PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


5/^t>//: Ntifnb<:^  .  ..     Q-P 


PY 


WHY  FOUR  GOSPELS? 


OR, 


THE    GOSPEL  FOR  ALL  THE  WORLD. 


A  MANUAL  DESIGNED  TO  AID  CHRISTIANS  IN  THE  STUDY 
OF  THE  SCRIPTURES,   AND  TO  A  BETTER  UNDER- 
STANDING OF  THE  GOSPELS. 


BY 


D.  S.  GREGORY,  D.  D., 


PROFESSOR    OP    THE    MENTAL    SCIENCES   AND    ENGLISH    LITERATURE    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY    OP 
WOOSTER:   AUTHOR  OP   "CHRISTIAN   ETHICS." 


NEW  YORK: 
SHELDON    AND     COMPANY. 

1877. 


OOPTRIGHT,  1876, 

By   D.   S.    GiiEGOKY. 


RIVERSIDE,     CAMBRIDQE: 
STEREOTYPED    BY    II.    0     HOUOHTOX    AND   COMPANY, 


TO  MY  WIFE, 

1$.  25.  <©M 


TO  WHOSE   CONSTANT  ENCOURAGEMENT  AND  ASSIDUOUS   HELPFULNESS 

THE    CHRISTIAN   PUBLIC   OWES   WHATEVER  OF   VALUE    THIS 

VOLUME   MAY   CONTAIN,    IT    IS,   WITHOUT 

HER   KNOWLEDGE, 


^(UttiaiinUlu  JBciricatclr. 


PKEFACE. 


It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  central  point  of 
attack  upon  Christianity  in  the  present  age  is  found  in 
the  Gospels.  "  The  life  of  Jesus,"  says  Tischendorf,  "  is 
the  most  momentous  of  all  questions  which  the  Church 
has  to  encounter,  —  the  one  which  is  decisive  whether  it 
shall  or  shall  not  live."  The  assailants  demand  that  the 
Christian  apologist  shall  put  his  system  to  the  test  of  ex- 
hibiting its  philosophic  basis  and  its  rational  explanation. 
Whether  the  demand  be  reasonable  or  unreasonable,  it  is 
certain  that  this  scientific  age  will  continue  to  press  its 
questions  of  why  and  how. 

While  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  God's  Word  will 
stand  all  legitimate  tests  and  remain  intact  to  the  end  of 
time,  it  is  no  less  certain  that  some  of  the  old  modes  of 
viewing,  exhibiting,  and  defending  it  must  be  abandoned 
for  others  which  are  more  truly  scientific,  or,  in  other 
words,  more  in  harmony  with  the  divine  truth  and 
thought. 

It  is  a  growing  conviction  in  many  Christian  minds, 
that  the  most  conclusive  argument  for  the  divine  origin 
of  the  four  Gospels  is  not  that  furnished  by  the  external 
evidences  but  by  the  Gospels  themselves  ;  that  whoever 
can  be  brought  to  take  a  truly  scientific  view  of  them, 
that  is,  to  see  them  as  they  really  are  in  themselves  and 
their  relations,  will  need  no  further  arguments  to  con- 
vince him  that  these  productions  are  each  and  all  from 
God. 


VI  PREFACE. 

The  present  work  is  designed  to  aid  the  intelligent 
reader  in  his  efforts  to  see  the  Gospels  as  they  really  are, 
that  they  may  present  their  own  claims  —  based  upon 
their  unity,  harmony,  completeness,  and  perfect  adapta- 
tion to  human  needs  —  to  be  from  God,  divinely  inspired, 
and  worthy  of  God.  It  is  the  application  of  simple,  com- 
mon-sense principles  to  the  study  and  elucidation  of  the 
productions  of  the  Eyangelists,  with  the  hope  that  the  re- 
sult may  be  helpful  to  Christians  who  would  go  beyond 
the  old  conventional  methods  and  seek  to  gain  clearer, 
fresher,  truer,  and  more  reasonable  views.  It  is  desired 
especially  that  the  present  essay  may  commend  'the  study 
of  the  Gospels  to  the  minds  of  that  class  of  thinkers, 
daily  increasing,  who  are  to  be  satisfied  only  by  a  rea- 
sonable explanation  of  the  facts,  whether  of  the  world  or 
of  the  Word,  with  which  they  come  in  contact. 

The  studies  which  led  to  this  work  originated  in  the 
efforts  of  a  pastor  to  awaken  a  new  interest  on  the  part 
of  his  flock  in  the  study  of  the  Word  of  God.  The  en- 
couragement received  led  to  the  embodiment  of  portions 
of  the  subject,  in  a  form  different  from  the  present,  in  a 
series  of  articles  for  one  of  the  leading  Quarterlies.  In 
response  to  the  urgent  request  of  many  earnest  laborers 
in  the  Gospel,  the  thought  has  been  embodied — during 
the  intervals  of  a  life  filled  with  most  pressing  duties  — 
in  the  present  form,  in  order  to  bring  it  within  the  reach 
of  a  larger  number  of  intelligent  readers.  Should  it  be 
owned  of  God  in  helping  inquiring  minds  to  a  clearer 
and  more  comprehensive  view  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
and  to  a  firmer  faith  in  its  Divine  origin  and  aim,  the 
highest  and  chief  end  of  its  preparation  will  be  secured. 

WOOSTER,  0.,  October  2,  1876. 


CONTES-TS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

PAGB 

The  Question  and  the  Proposed  Answers 9 

— ♦ — 
PART   I. 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  GOD  AND  THE  GOSPEL. 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  Preparation  for  the  Advent  op  the  Messiah  ....    29 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Advent  and  the  Written  Gospels ,56 


PART  11. 

MATTHEW,    THE    GOSPEL    FOR    THE   JEW. 

CHAPTER   I. 

Historical  View  of  the  Jewish   Adaptation  of  the  First 
Gospel 85 

CHAPTER  II. 

Critical   View    of    the  Jewish   Adaptation  of   the   First 
Gospel 109 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

PART  III. 

MARK,    THE    GOSPEL    FOR    THE    ROMAN. 

CHAPTER  I. 

HiSTOKiCAL  View  of  the  Roman  Adaptation  of  the  Second 
Gospel 150 

CHAPTER  11. 

Critical  View  of  the  Robian  Adaptation   of  the    Second 
Gospel 169 


PART  IV. 

LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Historical  View  of  the  Greek  Adaptation  of  the    Third 
Gospel 207 

CHAPTER  II. 

Critical  View  of  the   Greek   Adaptation   of   the    Third 
Gospel 228 


PART   V. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Historical    View    of    the    Christian  Adaptation    of  the 
Fourth  Gospel 277 

CHAPTER  II. 

Critical  View  of  the  Christian  Adaptation  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel 299 

CONCLUSION. 
The  Gospel  for  all  the  World 343 


INTEODUOTIOK 


THE   QUESTION  AND  THE  PROPOSED   ANSWERS. 

Question  stated.  The  one  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
appears  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  four  forms,  —  a  first, 
according  to  Matthew ;  a  second,  according  to  Mark  ;  a 
third,  according  to  Luke  ;  and  a  fourth,  according  to 
John.  Why  not  in  three,  or  five,  or  twenty  forms  ?  Or, 
why  not,  in  accordance  with  a  prevailing  desire  of  the 
present  age,  in  only  one  form  ? 

Since  the  fact  of  four  Gospels  cannot  be  escaped, 
wherein  and  why  do  they  differ  ?  Do  the  order,  har- 
mony, and  design,  which  are  found  everywhere  in  God's 
world,  appear  also  in  that  other  work  of  God,  his  Word  ? 
In  particular,  did  the  infinite  Reason  preside  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  Gospels,  so  that  we  may  confidently  look 
for  a  divine  plan  in  each  of  them  considered  by  itself, 
and  a  like  plan  in  the  whole  of  them  taken  together  ? 

Answers  proposed.  For  eighteen  hundred  years, 
these  brief  productions,  occupying  but  a  few  pages  in  a 
single  book,  have  evinced  their  power  to  raise  such  ques- 
tions as  these,  and  to  keep  the  world  employed  in  the 
effort  to  answer  them. 

In  all  ages  thoughtful  men,  and  especially  the  great 
souls  of  the  Church,  have  shrunk  from  looking  upon  the 
Gospels  as  aimless  and  disjointed  productions,  mere  med- 
leys of  fact  and  truth.  But  in  seeking  to  reach  the 
order  and  unity  which  tlieir  natures  craved,  they  have 
tried  different  and  often  irrational  methods. 


10  WHY   FOUR   GOSPELS? 

The  Jiarmonists  have  attempted  to  construct,  from  the 
four  Gospels  regarded  as  a  poorly  arranged  mass  of  ma- 
terial, one  complete  life  of  Jesus,  or,  at  least,  to  remove 
the  obstacles  to  the  construction  of  such  a  life. 

The  allegorists,  seizing  upon  certain  available  script- 
ural symbols,  have  done  their  best,  in  their  arbitrary 
and  fanciful  way,  to  put  aim  and  plan  into  the  Gospels. 

From  such  irrational  methods,  pursued  through  cent- 
uries with  no  definite  and  valuable  product  of  the  kind 
sought  after,  resulted  the  method  and  work  of  the  mod- 
ern rationalists.  From  the  despair  of  plan  and  aim,  or 
the  assertion  of  unreasonable  plan  and  aim,  there  came, 
as  a  natural  and  inevitable  reaction  against  the  old  un- 
reason, the  vehement  and  unreasoning  denial  of  any  plan 
and  aim. 

Against  all  these  the  method  of  right  reason  is  now 
vindicating  itself.  The  course  of  modern  progress  in 
this,  as  in  so  many  other  fields  of  investigation,  has  been 
from  irrationalism  through  rationalism  to  the  true  rea- 
son. 

A  comprehensive  view  of  this  line  of  work  —  irra- 
tional, rationalistic,  and  truly  rational  —  of  the  past  cent- 
uries, will  best  open  the  way  for  a  new  attempt  to  solve 
the  old  and  ever-recurring  problem. 

SECTION  I. 

THE  HARMONISTS. 

The  Christian  Fathers  seem  to  have  made  little  effort 
to  find  any  plan  in  the  Gospels.  Very  early,  however, 
they  began  to  produce  what  may,  in  a  loose  way,  be 
called  Lives  of  Christ.  These  did  not  so  much  aim  to 
explain  apparent  discrepancies,  or  even  to  ascertain  the 
exact  chronological  order  of  the  events,  as  to  reduce  the 
four  Gospels  to  one  continuous  narrative.     They  were 


THE  HARMONISTS.  11 

luilike  the  modern  so-called  Lives  ;  for  although  in  those 
as  in  these  the  writings  of  the  Evangelists  were  torn 
member  from  member,  yet  the  scattered  members  were 
not  wholly  whelmed  in  a  flood  of  weak  and  vapid  senti- 
ment, nor  entirely  lost  in  the  mazes  of  a  cheap  but  am- 
bitious rhetoric.  They  shared  with  some  of  the  moderns 
the  error,  that  uninspired  man  can  give  a  better  form  to 
the  material  of  the  Evangelists  than  the  divine  form 
given  by  inspiration ;  but  they  did  not  share  with  them 
the  more  monstrous  modern  error,  that  uninspired  man 
can  improve  upon  the  divine  material  by  adding  to  it 
either  his  profound  philosophy  or  his  sentimental  twad- 
dle. 

As  early  as  A.  D.  170,  Tatian  the  Syrian  compiled  his 
Diatessaron,  —  that  is,  his  Gospel  according  to  the  four 
Evangelists,  —  a  work  now  lost.  It  was  substantially  a 
life  of  Christ,  compiled  in  accordance  with  the  view  of  its 
author,  that  the  ministry  of  Jesus  lasted  only  one  year. 

Ammonius  of  Alexandria  prepared  a  similar  work, 
about  A.  D.  220,  which  he  entitled  a  Harmony.  He 
divided  the  four  Gospels  into  short  Sections,  which  he 
numbered  according  to  the  order  in  which  they  were  to 
be  placed  in  his  combined  Gospel  or  Harmony. 

The  Canons  of  Eusebius,  A.  D.  315,  was  in  fact  a 
harmony  upon  a  somewhat  different  plan  from  the 
Ammonian  Sections.  There  are  ten  of  the  Canons  or 
Tables,  — one  exhibiting  the  Sections  common  to  all  the 
Gospels ;  three,  those  common  to  any  three  of  the  Gos- 
pels ;  five,  those  common  to  any  two ;  and  one,  those 
peculiar  to  any  one  Gospel.  Very  little  advance  has 
been  made  upon  the  work  of  Ammonius  and  Eusebius  in 
this  direction. 

The  necessity  for  explaining  in  a  systematic  way  the 
apparent  discrepancies  of  the  Gospels  made  itself  felt  at 
a  later  date.     The  best  known,  and,  perhaps,  the  most 


12  WHY  FOUR   GOSPELS? 

valuable  of  the  Harmonies,  constructed  under  pressure 
of  this  necessity,  is  that  of  Robinson  (A.  D.  1845),  based 
upon  the  earlier  works  of  Newcome  (1778)  and  Le  Clerc 
(1699).  In  the  class  of  works  of  which  it  is  the  repre- 
sentative, learning  the  most  varied  and  profound  has 
been  brought  to  bear  in  the  discussion  of  times,  places, 
and  circumstances,  with  the  aim  of  reconciling  apparent 
discrepancies  and  contradictions,  and  of  arranging  the 
material  of  all  the  Gospels  in  exact  chronological  order 
in  one  narrative. 

The  Harmonists  have  done  good  and  worthy  work  so 
far  as  they  have  assisted  to  explain  the  apparent  incon- 
sistencies of  the  Gospels  and  to  make  the  true  relations 
of  the  various  portions  better  understood.  So  far,  how- 
ever, as  they  have  undertaken  to  construct  one  continuous 
and  complete  narrative  of  the  career  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, they  have  attempted  an  impossible  task.  There 
are  no  sufficient  data  upon  which  to  base  a  just  conclu- 
sion concerning  the  precise  time  when  many  of  the  events 
recorded  in  the  Gospels  occurred.  It  will  appear  subse- 
quently in  this  discussion,  that  it  was  no  part  of  the  aim 
of  the  Evangelists  to  give  a  complete  account  of  the  life 
of  Jesus  strictly  arranged  in  the  order  of  time.  Their 
chronology  is  clear  and  distinct,  at  the  most,  only  in  the 
opening  and  concluding  chapters.  But  even  if  the  exact 
time  of  each  event  could  be  ascertained,  it  would  still  be 
impossible  to  combine  the  four  Gospels  in  one  consistent 
whole.  The  writers  were  themselves  unlike  in  nature 
and  culture,  and  so  the  style  of  each  is  different  from 
that  of  all  the  others.  They  wrote,  as  will  be  shown, 
for  different  classes  of  readers,  each  class  requiring  a  dif- 
ferent mode  of  presentation.  Each  of  them  looked  at 
Jesus  from  a  different  point  of  view.  Some  one  has 
compared  their  four  productions  to  four  photographs  of 
the  four  different  sides  of  a  house,  —  each  is  distinct, 


THE   HARMONISTS.  13 

and  the  four  sides  could  not  possibly  be  taken  in  one 
picture. 

Results.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  affirm  that  the 
efforts  to  make  a  complete  and  harmonious  whole  out  of 
the  Gospels  have  failed. 

Says  Dr.  Isaac  Da  Costa  :  "  Unhappily  by  far  the 
most  of  these  Harmonies,  for  want  of  any  principle  of 
solution  drawn  from  the  very  nature  and  organical  con- 
struction of  these  writings,  have  contributed  rather  to 
embarrass  than  to  resolve  the  problem,  owing  to  the 
purely  mechanical  and  forced  manner  in  which  its  solu- 
tion has  been  attempted."  ^ 

Dr.  J.  Addison  Alexander,  in  an  article  on  Harmonies 
of  the  Gospels,  ably  sums  up  the  whole  matter.  "  What 
then,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  use  of  all  this  harmonistic 
labor,  from  the  second  to  the  nineteenth  century  ?  We 
answer,  much  every  way  —  or  rather,  every  way  but 
one  —  and  that  the  very  one  on  which  the  heart  of  the 
harmonical  interpreter  is  often  set  —  the  undesirable,  im- 
practicable, and  chimerical  reduction  of  these  four  ines- 
timable gems  to  one  bright  but  artificial  compound.  The 
true  use  of  Harmonies  is  threefold,  Exegetical,  Histori- 
cal, Apologetical.  By  mere  juxtaposition,  if  judicious, 
the  Gospels  may  be  made  to  throw  light  upon  each 
other's  obscure  places.  By  combination,  not  mechanical 
but  rational,  not  textual  but  interpretive,  harmonies  put 
it  in  our  power,  not  to  grind,  or  melt,  or  boil  four  Gos- 
pels into  one,  but  out  of  the  four,  kept  apart,  yet  viewed 
together,  to  extract  one  history  for  ourselves.  And 
lastly,  by  the  endless  demonstration  of  the  possible  solu- 
tions of  apparent  or  alleged  discrepancies,  even  where  we 
may  not  be  prepared  to  choose  among  them,  they  reduce 
the  general  charge  of  falsehood  or  of  contradiction,  not 
only  ad  absurdum,  but  to  a  palpable  impossibility.    How 

1  The  Four  Witnesses,  p.  4. 


14  WHY   FOUR   GOSPELS  ? 

can  four  independent  narratives  be  false  or  contradictory, 
which  it  is  possible  to  reconcile  on  so  manj^  distinct  hy- 
potheses ?  The  art  of  the  most  subtle  infidelity  consists 
in  hiding  this  convincing  argument  behind  the  alleged 
necessity  of  either  giving  a  conclusive  and  exclusive  an- 
swer to  all  captious  cavils  and  apparent  disagreements, 
or  abandoning  our  faith  in  the  history  as  a  whole.  This 
most  important  end  of  Gospel  Harmonies  has  been  ac- 
complished. It  has  been  established,  beyond  all  reason- 
able doubt,  that  however  the  Evangelists  may  differ,  and 
however  hard  it  may  be  often  to  explain  the  difference, 
they  never,  in  a  single  instance,  contradict  each  other. 
This  is  a  grand  result,  well  worthy  of  the  toil  bestowed 
upon  it  by  the  Fathers  and  Reformers  and  Divines  for 
eighteen  hundred  years  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
minute  chronology,  which  some  of  these  have  viewed  as 
the  great  object  to  be  aimed  at,  is  as  far  from  its  com- 
plete solution  now  as  in  the  days  of  Tatian  or  Augus- 
tine ;  so  that  the  inquirer  may  still  say  to  the  most  able 
harmonists,  with  one  of  Terence's  dramatic  characters  : 
Fecistis  probe,  incertior  sum  multo  quam  dudmn !  "  ^ 

When  one  has  clearly  grasped  the  characteristics  of 
each  of  the  Gospels,  the  attempt  to  mass  them  all  in  one, 
while  preserving  the  glory  of  each,  will  appear  as  absurd 
as  would  the  attempt  of  an  architect  to  construct,  from 
the  materials  of  Solomon's  Temple,  of  the  Parthenon,  of 
the  Coliseum,  and  of  Westminster  Abbey,  a  new  temple 
which  should  preserve  and  harmoniously  combine  the 
peculiar  features  of  them  all,  and  be  neither  Jewish, 
Greek,  Roman,  nor  Gothic. 

1  Princeton  Review,  vol.  xxriii.  p.  395. 


THE  ALLEGORISTS.  15 

SECTION  11. 

THE  ALLEGORISTS. 

While  the  Harmonists  have  been  engaged  in  their  im- 
possible task,  another  class  of  minds,  delighting  in  alle- 
gory and  given  to  imagination,  has  been  engaged  upon  a 
work  equally  impossible.  The  Cherubim  of  Ezekiel  and 
the  Four  Living  Creatures  of  the  Apocalypse  have 
played  as  important  a  part  in  their  interpretation  of  the 
Gospels  as  the  cycles  and  epicycles  played  in  the  theories 
of  the  old  astronomers.  There  are  four  Gospels  and 
there  are  four  of  these  figures  of  prophecy.  Is  not  that 
a  wonderful  coincidence  ?  Besides,  have  not  all  script- 
ural symbols  an  inexhaustible  fullness  of  mystic,  pro- 
phetic signification  and  application?  Why,  then,  were 
not  those  symbols  of  Ezekiel  and  John  intended  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  symbolize  the  four  Evangelists,  —  or,  at 
least,  those  aspects  of  the  person  and  office  of  Christ 
which  they  respectively  exhibit  in  their  Gospels  ?  Who 
could  say  they  were  not  so  intended  ? 

Irengeus,  Bishop  of  Lyons  in  the  second  century,  be- 
gan with  the  vision  of  the  four  Cherubim,  in  the  first 
chapter  of  Ezekiel.  That  vision,  in  its  symbolical  mean- 
ing, he  applied  to  the  distinctive  peculiarities  of  the  Gos- 
pels. "  As  for  the  likeness  of  their  faces,  they  four  had 
the  face  of  a  man,  and  the  face  of  a  lion,  on  the  right 
side  ;  and  they  four  had  the  face  of  an  ox  on  the  left 
side  ;  they  four  also  had  the  face  of  an  eagle."  The 
man,  according  to  Irengeus,  symbolizes  Matthew's  Gos- 
pel ;  the  lion,  Mark's ;  the  ox,  Luke's ;  the  eagle,  John's. 
So  happy  a  thought  could  not  fail,  in  the  circumstances, 
to  perpetuate  itself.  The  later  Fathers  adopted  and  de- 
veloped the  idea  of  Irenaeus.  At  the  end  of  two  centu- 
ries, Jerome  completed  the  development,  and  proposed 


16  WHY   FOUR   GOSPELS? 

that  special  arrangement  and  application  of  the  symbols 
which  the  Latin  Church  adopted,  and  which  Art  has 
perpetuated.     His  order  is  that  of  Ezekiel. 

The  Rhemist  fathers  interpreted  and  applied  the 
vision,  in  accordance  with  this  order  of  Ezekiel  and 
Jerome.  "  St.  Matthew  is  likened  to  a  man,  because  he 
beginneth  with  the  pedigree  of  Christ,  as  he  is  a  man  ; 
St.  Mark  to  a  lion,  because  he  beginneth  with  the 
preaching  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  as  it  were  the  roaring 
of  a  lion  in  the  wilderness ;  St.  Luke  to  a  calf,  because 
he  beginneth  with  a  priest  of  the  Old  Testament  (to  wit, 
Zacharias,  the  father  of  John  Baptist),  which,  priesthood 
was  to  sacrifice  calves  to  God  ;  St.  John  to  an  eagle,  be- 
cause he  beginneth  with  the  divinity  of  Christ,  flying  as 
high,  as  more  is  not  possible."  This  is  plainly  worse 
than  childish,  —  absurd  !  It  explains  nothing.  It  opens 
to  view  no  aim  or  harmony  before  invisible. 

The  great  Augustine  was  dissatisfied  with  the  expla- 
nation of  Iren^eus.  So  were  some  even  before  his  day, 
and  more  after  it.  He  preferred  the  order  in  John's 
vision  of  the  Four  Living  Creatures^  as  found  in  Reve- 
lation iv.  7  :  "  And  the  first  beast  was  like  a  lion,  and 
the  second  beast  was  like  a  calf,  and  the  third  beast  liad 
a  face  as  a  man,  and  the  fourth  beast  was  like  a  flying 
eagle."  Matthew's  Gospel,  according  to  this  view,  is 
symbolized  by  the  lion^  because  he  sets  forth  Christ  as 
the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah ;  Mark's  by  the  calf  or 
ox^  because  he  exhibits  Christ  as  the  servant  in  a  life  of 
patient,  humble  service  ;  Luke's  by  the  man^  because  he 
hold's  forth  Christ  as  the  perfection  of  humanity  ;  John's 
by  the  eagle^  because  of  his  heavenward  gaze  and  fliglit 
in  unfolding  the  mysteries  of  Christ's  Deity.  This  was 
better,  —  if  anything  better  be  attainable  by  a  method  so 
arbitrary,  —  for  it  suggests  a  half-truth  in  connection  with 
each  of  the  first  three  Gospels,  to  which  Jerome's  inter- 


THE  ALLEGORISTS.  17 

pretation  did  not  open  the  way.  Still  there  was  room 
for  new  efforts  in  attaching  to  the  Gospels  the  symbols 
of  these  prophets  of  the  two  dispensations. 

Among  the  latest  adaptations  is  that  of  Lange,  in  his 
"  Life  of  Jesus,"  —  an  adaptation  approved  by  Stier. 
The  ox,  the  lion,  the  man,  the  eagle,  is  Lange's  order. 
His  view  is  presented  in  his  introduction  to  the  commen- 
tary on  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew.  "  The  first 
Gospel  is  preeminently  that  of  history,  and  of  the  fulfill- 
ment of  the  Old  Testament  by  the  sacrificial  sufferings 
and  death  of  Christ  and  the  redemption  thus  achieved. 
Hence,  the  sacrificial  bullock  is  the  appropriate  symbol 
of  Matthew.  The  second  Gospel  presents  to  our  minds 
the  all-powerful  revelation  and  working  of  Christ  as  di- 
rect from  heaven,  irrespectively  of  anything  that  pre- 
ceded, —  the  completion  of  all  former  manifestations  of 
the  Deity.  Symbol,  the  lion.  The  third  Gospel  is  pre- 
eminently that  of  humanity, — human  mercy  presented 
in  the  light  of  divine  grace,  the  transformation  of  all 
human  kindness  into  divine  love.  Symbol,  the  figure  of 
a  man.  Lastly,  the  fourth  Gospel  exhibits  the  deep  spir- 
itual and  eternal  import  of  the  history  of  Christ,  —  the 
divine  element  pervading  and  underlying  its  every  phase, 
—  and  with  it  the  transformation  of  all  ideals,  in  con- 
nection with  Christ.  Symbol,  the  eagle. ''^  Very  differ- 
ent, truly,  is  the  symbol  of  Lange  for  Matthew  from  that 
of  Augustine,  —  the  ox.,  from  the  Hon.,  —  ignoring  en- 
tirely the  order  of  divine  revelation,  —  yet  with  his  ex- 
planation it  serves  to  bring  out  another  half-truth  con- 
cerning the  priestly  character  of  Messiah  as  taught  in 
prophecy  and  realized  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Results.  But  accommodating  as  these  symbols  of 
prophecy  have  been,  the  various  and  never-ending 
changes  in  the  attempts  to  apply  them  to  the  Gospels 
show  most  clearly  that  the  thing  attempted  is  purely  ar- 


18  WHY   FOUR   GOSPELS? 

bitrary.  Admitting  that  they  may  have  been  of  some 
nse  in  the  past,  in  helping  to  group  some  of  the  facts  pe- 
cuhar  to  the  respective  Gospels,  —  of  use  just  as  the 
C3^cles  and  epicycles  were  in  the  old  astronomy,  or  the. 
nebular  hypothesis  in  the  modern,  —  still  they  are 
scarcely  worthy  to  be  taken  into  serious  account  in  any 
attempt  to  reach  a  philosophic  and  common-sense  view  of 
the  existence  and  structure  of  the  four  Gospels. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  attempts  to  put  a 
plan  into  the  Gospels,  in  this  arbitrary  way,  have  failed 
no  less  utterly  than  the  attempts  of  the  harmonists  to  put 
the  material  of  the  Gospels  into  a  new  form  better  than 
the  divine. 

SECTION  in. 

THE  EATIONALISTS. 

Out  of  these  irrational  modes  of  treating  the  Gospels 
has  come  the  modern  reaction,  which  has  taken  form,  on 
its  worst  side,  in  Rationalism.  The  Rationalist  accepts 
the  failure  of  the  irrational  method  as  conclusive  against 
all  aim  and  plan  in  the  Gospels.  As  the  Gospels  are  a 
medley,  they  are  therefore  not  from  God.  Still,  the  med- 
ley—  a  very  extraordinary  one  certainly  —  remains  to 
be  accounted  for.  To  account  for  it  without  the  aid  of 
the  supernatural  is  the  aim  of  the  rationalist. 

Pantheistic  form.  David  Friedrich  Strauss,  who  has 
but  recently  passed  away,  was  the  man  who  first  gave 
literary  shape  —  in  his  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  published  in 
1835  —  to  a  view  of  the  Gospels  which  had  been  for  some 
time  floating  in  dim  and  undefined  form  in  the  German 
mind  of  his  age. 

The  reality  of  our  Lord's  life  may  be  attacked  in  two, 
and  only  two,  ways ;  it  may  be  urged  that  the  Gospel 
history  is  pure  fable,  without  any  better  basis  of  histori- 
cal fact  than  the  "  Arabian  Nights,"  or  that  it  is  a  mixt- 


THE  RATIONALISTS.  19 

ure  of  fact  and  fable,  like  the  Grecian  and  Roman  le- 
gends, which  can  only  be  separated  by  the  aid  of  critical 
intuition.     Strauss  took  the  former  method  of  attack. 

His  work  was  the  inevitable  last  outcome  of  German 
Pantheism.  Pantheism  denies  a  Personal  God.  The 
Gospel  history  must  therefore  be  false  or  at  least  mythi- 
cal, because  the  notion  of  a  Personal  God  and  Creator  of 
men,  and  of  a  Son  of  God,  revealing  the  will  of  the 
Heavenly  Father,  is  unphilosophical,  —  a  dream  of  su- 
perstition, and  not  a  truth  of  reason  as  expounded  by  its 
latest  and  highest  prophet,  Hegel.^  It  was  not  by  his 
science,  but  by  his  fundamental  hypothesis,  the  assump- 
tion of  the  truth  of  Pantheism,  that  Strauss  aimed  to 
rid  the  world  of  the  Gospeifacts. 

His  scientific  method  led  him  to  apply  both  philosophy 
and  criticism  to  the  Gospels,  and  in  his  hands,  with  the 
truth  of  Pantheism  postulated,  botli  were  of  course 
equally  destructive. 

As  Strauss  adopted  the  philosophy  of  Hegel,  we  ac- 
cordingly find  the  Hegelian  idea  prominent  in  all  his 
speculations  on  the  Gospels.  He  maintained  that  he  be- 
lieved as  an  idea  what  others  believed  as  history.  The 
idea  is  before  the  facts  and  creates  the  so-called  facts. 
The  need  of  a  deliverer  created  the  idea  of  a  Saviour. 
The  old  prophecies,  misinterpreted,  fashioned  in  the  pop- 
ular mind  a  character  to  be  attributed  to  that  Saviour. 
The  whole  Gospel  history  is  an  attempt  of  the  ruling 
idea  of  the  Jewish  race  in  that  age  to  realize  itself  in  fact. 
The  imagination,  or  mi/thus,  to  which  the  need  of  a  de- 
liverer gave  rise,  grew  in  process  of  time  into  the  great 
four-fold  fable  of  the  Gospels. 

The  facts  in  Christianity  were  temporary,  the  ideas 
eternal.  Christ  was  the  type  of  humanity.  His  life, 
death,   and   resurrection   were   the   symbol    of   the   life, 

1  See  Tulloch,  Lectures  on  M.  Renan's  "Vie  de  Jesus,"  p.  32. 


20  WHY   FOUR   GOSPELS? 

death,  and  resurrection  of  liumanity.  The  former  was 
unimportant  and  temporary,  the  latter  momentous  and 
eternal.  An  exoteric  religion  for  the  people  might  ex- 
hibit the  one  ;  the  esoteric  for  the  philosopher  might  re-, 
tain  the  other.  In  short,  the  dogmas  of  the  Gospel  are 
true,  but  the  history  false. 

With  his  Hegelian  philosophy  and  criticism,  Strauss 
would  have  done  for  the  Gospels  what  Niebuhr  and  Grote 
have  done  for  the  Roman  and  Grecian  legends  of  the 
pre-historic  age,  given  in  poetry  and  tradition  ;  and  he 
would  have  relegated  the  Jesus  of  the  Evangelists  to  the 
same  shadowy  place  in  history  with  -^neas,  Hercules,  the 
early  kings  of  Rome,  and  the  Brutus  of  England.  It  is 
already  acknowledged  by  all  competent  critics  that,  in 
spite  of  all  his  marvelous  learning,  the  attempt  of  Strauss 
was,  philosophically,  a  complete  and  miserable  failure. 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  lived  not  in  fabulous  but  in  historic 
times,  —  in  fact,  in  the  most  cultivated  age  of  antiquity. 
The  four  Gospels  are,  on  the  very  face  of  them,  not 
poems,  or  legends,  or  myths,  but  simple,  life-like,  histori- 
cal narratives,  which  could  have  been  produced  only  by 
or  with  the  aid  of  eye-witnesses.  It  can  be  proved  that 
they  all  existed  in  their  present  form  before  the  close  of 
the  first  century,  so  that  no  time  is  anywhere  given  for 
the  growth  of  the  wonderful  myths  of  Strauss.  It  were 
far  easier  to  prove  Julius  Caesar  a  myth,  than  to  prove 
Jesus  Christ  a  myth.  The  principles  by  which  Strauss 
would  prove  the  life  of  Jesus  a  fable,  would  as  readily 
prove  the  life  of  Napoleon  a  fable. 

Positivist  form.  In  the  acknowledged  failure  of 
Strauss  is  found  the  secret  of  the  changed  plan  of  attack 
by  M.  Ernest  Renan,  in  his  "  Life  of  Jesus."  It  is  im- 
possible to  show  the  Gospel  history  to  be  all  fable  ;  the 
next  thing  to  that  is  to  show  it  to  be  a  mixture  of  fact 
and  fable.     There  must  be  a  basis  of  fact.     M.  Renan 


THE   RATIONALISTS.  21 

will  pick  it  out  according  to  his  own  taste.  He  has  a 
monopoly  of  the  intuition  of  Gospel  fact.  So  he  gives 
the  world  his  "  Fifth  Gospel,"  —  his  "  Life  of  Jesus."  It 
might  more  appropriately  be  styled  M.  Kenan's  "  Ro- 
mance of  Jesus ;  "  since  there  is  no  Gospel  left  in  it  ex- 
cept what  may  be  found  in  the  author's  very  French  no- 
tions of  sentiment  and  morality. 

This  work  was  the  inevitable  outgrowth  of  French 
Positivism.  Positivism  affirms  that  the  universe  is  gov- 
erned by  necessary  law,  and  its  order  is  therefore  un- 
changing. The  notion  of  a  personal  Will  interposing  in 
human  affairs  is  therefore  incompatible  with  science. 
The  miracles  of  the  Gospels,  in  short  whatever  professes 
to  be  a  manifestation  of  the  supernatural  or  of  a  per- 
sonal Will,  must  be  false.^ 

The  chief  problem  of  positivist  criticism  must  there- 
fore require  the  separation,  by  some  power  of  critical 
intuition,  of  the  true  in  the  Gospels  from  the  false,  of 
the  fact  from  the  fable.  To  this  work  Renan,  with  his 
brilliant  erudition  and  his  still  more  brilliant  style,  sets 
himself. 

Renan  finds  three  periods  in  the  life  of  Jesus.  In 
the  first,  the  hero  has  some  features  of  the  Jesus  of  the 
Evangelists  left.  M.  Renan  would  make  him  appear  as 
a  moralist  and  a  gentle  reformer  of  the  noblest  and  pur- 
est character,  according  to  the  attenuated  French  idea  of 
moralist  and  reformer  and  of  nobility  and  purity.  In  the 
second,  Jesus  is  brought  under  the  influence  of  the 
gloomy  Baptist,  and  his  sweet  nature  is  changed  by  close 
contact  with  that  sterner  character.  Somehow  the  notion 
of  a  strange  ideal  kingdom  gets  into  his  head,  and  he 
sets  about  establishing  it.  In  this  he  fails,  and  the 
third  period  is  marked  by  a  radical  change  of  character 
and  conduct.  Disappointed  and  embittered,  he  raves 
1  See  Tulloch,  Lectures  on  M.  Kenan's  "Vie  de  J^siis,"  p.  33. 


22  WHY   FOUR   GOSPELS? 

against  all  classes  of  men  ;  is  tempted  to  make  use  of 
deception  and  yields;  and,  in  the  belief  in  some  com- 
ing world-revolution,  hurries  on  his  own  violent  death, 
and  is  buried  in  a  grave  from  which  M.  Renan  does  not 
allow  the  stone  to  be  rolled  away.  This  is  the  basis  of 
fact,  according  to  Renan,  on  which  the  great  romances 
of  the  Gospels  were  constructed. 

Naturally  not  a  few  readers  have  inquired  how  it 
happens  that  the  brilliant  Frenchman  has  a  monopoly 
of  that  critical  intuition  which  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
cull  the  facts  of  the  Gospels  from  the  fable.  Those  in- 
clined to  receive  him  as  their  teacher  have  gone  farther 
and  insisted  on  claiming  a  share  of  that  intuition  for 
themselves.  The  intuition  of  the  equally  brilliant  author 
of  Ecce  Homo  differs  from  that  of  the  Frenchman  and 
from  that  of  everybody  else.  Even  M.  Renan's  intuition 
changes  from  time  to  time  ;  and  there  is  no  one  to  decide 
where  the  rationalistic  doctors  all  disagree. 

Men  of  sense  begin  to  see  clearly  that  this  new  prin- 
ciple once  admitted  would  destroy  all  the  foundations  of 
History,  no  less  surely  than  would  the  older  principle 
of  Strauss.  As  they  read  the  grand  story  of  the  Gos- 
pels, they  feel  that  the  life,  character,  and  mission  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  are  "  one  in  idea,  in  purpose,  in  ac- 
complishment, and  result."  They  turn  away  from  M. 
Renan's  no-gospel  as  a  repulsive  thing,  and  the  polished 
Frenchman's  romance,  after  being  a  nine-days'  wonder, 
is  making  haste  to  the  upper  shelves  or  the  waste  bas- 
ket. Not  even  with  the  aid  of  French  vivacity  and 
genius  can  such  a  baseless  and  sentimental  production 
hold  its  own  against  the  clear  unity,  the  intense  reality, 
and  the  divine  spirituality  of  the  Gospel  narratives. 

Results.  On  the  whole,  Christianity  has  little  reason 
to  complain  of  the  final  results  of  these  German  and 
French  ventures.     The  year  in  which  Strauss  published 


THE   COMMON-SENSE   CRITICS.  23 

liis  life  of  Jesus  is  as  memorable  in  theology  as  1848  in 
politics.  Theologians  of  all  classes  saw  that  it  called  for 
a  reconstruction  of  the  whole  subject  of  the  origin  and 
foundations  of  Christianity.  If  it  formed  the  starting 
point  of  the  new  literature  of  unbelief,  it  likewise  awak- 
ened Christian  thought  and  directed  it  to  the  central 
facts  of  Gospel  history,  and  above  all  to  the  Divine  Per- 
son revealed  there.  The  life  of  Jesus  has  thus  called 
forth  from  Christian  scholars  the  richest  results  of  critical 
investigation  and  exposition  of  the  place  of  the  Gospels 
in  literature  and  history,  and  has  given  the  historical 
Christ  a  firmer  hold  on  the  intelligent  faith  of  mankind 
than  he  has  ever  before  had.  In  fine,  both  pantheism 
and  positivism  did  their  best  in  Strauss  and  Renan,  and 
failed. 

The  conflict  that  has  since  been  waged  is  but  the  nec- 
essar}^  disagreement  of  the  inquiring  in  passing  from  the 
blind  and  worthless  agreement  of  the  ignorant  to  the 
priceless  unanimity  of  the  intelligent  and  enlightened. 
But  for  the  efforts  of  Strauss  and  his  successors,  the 
Church  might  still  have  known  nothing  of  the  common- 
sense,  historic  criticism,  to  which  it  ah-eady  owes  so  much, 
and  from  which  it  may  reasonably  hope  for  so  much 
more. 

SECTION  IV. 

THE  COMMON-SENSE  CEITICS. 

The  modern  reaction  from  the  irrational  and  rational- 
istic methods  has  given  rise  to  a  common-sense  criticism, 
which  promises  to  lead  ultimately  to  a  correct  and  full 
understanding  of  the  Gospels.  It  asks  men  to  look  at  the 
Gospels  as  they  are,  and  to  study  them  in  the  light  of  the 
times  and  forces  that  shaped  them.  It  aims  to  do  for 
the  Gospels  the  work  that  the  Baconian  philosophy  has 
done  for  the  world  of  nature. 


24  WHY  FOUR   GOSPELS  ? 

Says  Matthew  Arnold  :  "  Of  the  literature  of  France 
and  Germany,  as  of  the  mtellect  of  Europe  in  general, 
the  main  effort,  for  now  many  years,  has  been  a  critical 
effort ;  the  endeavor  in  all  branches  of  knowledge,  — 
theology,  philosophy,  history,  art,  science,  —  to  see  the 
object  as  in  itself  it  really  is."  We  accept  this  as  cer- 
tainly the  proper  aim  of  all  critical  study  of  words  from 
God,  if  not  of  the  proper  study  of  merely  human  pro- 
ductions, —  to  come  to  see  them  as  they  really  are.  The 
practical  question  in  connection  with  the  criticism  of  the 
Gospels  is.  How  can  this  end  be  attained  ?  Through  a 
long  period  of  honest,  earnest  work  the  Christian  Church 
has  been  approximating  to  the  true  method,  and  through 
it  to  the  true  answer. 

It  is  obvious,  however,  from  what  has  already  been 
presented,  that  the  progress  toward  the  goal  has  not  been 
made  in  a  right  line.  Human  reason,  when  employed 
on  these  great  divine  subjects,  has  a  most  unreasonable 
way  of  taking  to  by-ways  and  cross-roads  of  investiga- 
tion, and  of  losing  sight  of  the  one  main  track. 

Along  the  line  of  Gospel  study  two  things  have  been 
prominent :  the  divine  records  themselves  ;  and  the  ever- 
increasing  mass  of  related  facts,  geographical,  biographi- 
cal, and  historical,  drawn  partly  from  those  records  and 
partly  from  independent  sources. 

There  are,  therefore,  three  possible  methods  of  proced- 
ure. The  true  method  and  the  best  results  obviously 
require  that  both  these  sources  of  knowledge  shall  be 
taken  into  account.  In  the  actual  work  of  criticism, 
however,  one  class  of  critics  has  looked  only  to  the  records, 
and  another  only  to  the  related  facts  ;  and  both,  by  adopt- 
ing wrong  methods,  have  failed  of  securing  the  most  val- 
uable results.  The  work  of  the  former  class  has  too 
often  degenerated  into  a  barren  consideration  of  petty 
details  or  of  the  mere  letter  of  the  Scriptures,  while  that 


THE   COMMON-SENSE   CRITICS.  25 

of  the  latter  lias  sunk  into  equally  barren  geographical, 
biographical,  or  historical  speculation  on  subjects  only 
remotely  connected  with  the  truths  of  the  divine  reve- 
lation. But  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  be  assured,  that  even 
the  departures  from  the  right  line  of  progress  must  ulti- 
mately assist  in  reaching  the  truth,  by  showing  that  the 
truth  does  not  lie  in  the  directions  in  which  these  depart- 
ures have  been  made,  but  somewhere  midway  between 
them. 

The  history  of  Gospel  study,  up  to  the  present  time, 
may  be  said  to  have  fairly  demonstrated  that  the  old 
commentary  of  petty  detail,  which  sticks  to  isolated  facts 
and  to  words  and  letters,  to  the  neglect  of  the  more 
important  things  of  the  Scriptures,  will  not  greatly 
help  men  to  see  the  productions  of  the  Evangelists  as 
they  really  are.  It  ignores  the  divine  system  and  the 
infinitely  varied  relations  that  must  exist  wherever 
God's  thought  finds  expression.  It  is  a  fatal  mistake 
to  fix  the  attention  upon  verses  and  phrases,  upon  names 
and  dates,  upon  words  and  syllables,  and  to  lose  sight 
of  that  spirit  which  is  infinitely  above  the  mere  letter, 
and  of  that  truth  of  the  entire  Gospels  which  is  infin- 
itely grander  than  the  mere  sum  of  the  separate  parts. 
In  a  whole  library  of  commentaries  constructed  after  this 
microscopic  method,  one  can  scarcel}^  find  a  trace  of  the 
truest,  highest  glories  of  the  writings  of  the  Evangelists. 

In  like  manner  it  has  been  shown  very  clearly  that 
the  commentary  which  devotes  itself  to  things  external 
and  incidental  to  the  Gospels,  and  which  so  generally 
sinks  into  petty  biographical,  historical,  or  geographical 
criticism,  can  give  even  less  aid  toward  understanding 
the  productions  of  the  Evangelists  as  they  really  are.  It 
is  doubtless  important,  in  the  examination  of  literary 
works,  to  consider  the  personality,  the  circumstances,  the 
country  and  the  career  of  the  author.     But  when  this 


26  WHY   FOUR   GOSPELS  ? 

degenerates  into  petty  search  after  curious  facts,  often 
more  useless  than  curious,  it  fails  to  lay  open  the  secret 
of  an  author's  life,  and  does  little  toward  making  his  pro- 
ductions intelligible.  Of  what  imaginable  help  is  it,  in 
understanding  the  mighty  work  of  a  Newton  in  the 
world,  to  know  that  he  was  "small  enough,  when  he 
was  born,  to  be  put  into  a  quart  mug,  and  that  if  he  had 
any  animal  taste,  it  was  for  apples  of  the  red-streak 
sort  ?  "  Of  what  possible  service  in  understanding  the 
sublime  tragedies  of  ^schylus,  is  the  much-paraded 
story,  that  the  old  man  had  his  bald  head  broken  by  an 
eagle,  which,  high  in  air,  mistook  it  for  a  'stone,  and 
dropped  a  tortoise  on  it  to  crack  for  a  meal  ?  And  yet 
how  much  of  so-called  gospel  illustration  deals  with  facts 
and  fables  as  petty  and  worthless  as  these  !  Thoughtful 
men  are  beginning  to  see  that  valuable  lives  may  be 
worse  than  wasted  by  scholars  who  give  themselves  up 
to  such  work  in  connection  with  the  history  of  the  Evan- 
gelists. A  whole  library  of  such  materials  may  fail  to 
give  any  one  the  least  insight  into  the  real  spirit  of  Mat- 
thew, Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  or  the  slightest  glimpse  of 
the  true  spiritual  power  of  their  productions. 

Results.  The  final  result  of  these  erroneous  methods 
has  been  to  turn  the  attention  toward  the  true  method, 
whicii  may  be  characterized  as  that  of  genuine  textual 
and  historical  criticism.  It  gives  due  attention  both  to 
the  sacred  records,  in  their  minute  details  and  in  their 
grand  unities,  and  to  the  important  related  facts. 

The  fundamental  law  of  this  criticism  requires,  on  the 
one  hand,  that  he  who  wishes  to  understand  the  Gospels 
shall  devote  tlie  proper  stud}^  and  accord  due  weight,  to 
the  agents  and  forces,  human  and  divine,  individual  and 
national,  which  wrought  in  producing  them,  and  to  the 
ideas,  customs,  circumstances,  relations,  and  aims  which 
gave  them  final  shape.     Without  proper  regard  to  this 


THE   COMMON-SENSE   CRITICS.  27 

canon  no  right  understanding  of  tlie  Gospels  in  their 
completeness  and  unity  is  possible.  The  same  law  re- 
quires, on  the  other  hand,  that  he  who  wishes  to  under- 
stand the  Gospels  as  they  really  are  shall  devote  no  less 
earnest  study  to  the  sacred  records  themselves,  —  seeking 
in  the  light  of  all  the  related  facts  to  grasp  them  in  de- 
tail and  in  completeness,  in  part  and  in  whole  ;  making 
use  of  the  previously  sought  out  secret  of  the  author's 
age  and  life  and  genius,  and  of  the  revelation  of  the  di- 
vine purpose,  to  reach  the  still  higher  secret  of  the  glad 
tidings  to  all  men. 

In  the  "  Life,  Times,  and  Travels  of  St.  Paul,"  Cony- 
beare  and  Howson  have  applied  this  method  with  nota- 
ble success  in  dealing  with  a  portion  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  and  with  the  Pauline  Epistles.  Their  work  has 
thrown  new  and  marvelous  light  upon  apostolic  times  in 
general,  and  especially  upon  the  career  of  the  Apostle  to 
the  Gentiles. 

A  proper  application  of  the  same  method  to  the  Gos- 
pels cannot  fail  to  bring  out  something  of  the  divine  sys- 
tem, which  most  certainly  inheres  in  the  mass  of  Gospel 
facts  of  which  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the  central  figure. 
The  light  which  it  must  cast  upon  the  productions  of  the 
Evangelists  cannot  fail  to  invest  them  with  a  new,  fresh, 
yet  common-sense  and  historic,  interest.  The  Gospels 
themselves  will  at  the  same  time  be  permitted  to  present 
their  own  best  vindication  against  both  rationalism  and 
irrationalism  ;  and  will  furnish,  in  their  respective  aims 
and  plans,  and  in  their  complete  unity  and  harmony,  a 
new  and  most  convincing  argument  in  favor  of  the 
Christianity  based  upon  them. 

Topics.  In  the  course  of  such  a  work  the  questions : 
Why  are  there  four  Gospels  ?  and.  Wherein  and  why  do 
they  differ  ?  will,  it  is  trusted,  be  satisfactorily  answered  ; 
or,  at  least,  the  direction  along  which  the  true  answer 
can  alone  he  found  be  clearly  pointed  out. 


28  WHY  FOUR   GOSPELS  ? 

It  will  appear  incidentally  how  false  is  the  common 
notion  that  the  divine  work  for  the  redemption  of  the 
world  might  have  been  accomplished  just  as  well  by  one 
Gospel,  or  any  other  number  than  four,  —  so  false,  in- 
deed, that  history  would  have  to  be  -  transformed,  the 
world  revolutionized,  and  the  nature  of  the  races  radi- 
calty  changed,  before  the  divine  purpose  could  have 
reached  its  fulfillment  through  one  or  three  or  five  or  any 
other  number  than  the  divinely  chosen  four. 

The  method.  The  proposed  application  of  this  com- 
mon-sense method  will  require  :  — 

Firsts  the  consideration  of  such  introductory  topics  as 
the  preparation  of  the  world  for  the  advent  of  the  Mes- 
siah ;  the  advent  and  career  of  the  Messiah  ;  and  the 
actual  origin  of  the  four  written  Gospels. 

Secondly^  the  special  consideration  of  each  of  the  four 
Gospels,  in  its  origin,  design,  arid  authorship,  and  in  its 
adaptation  in  structure  and  matter  to  those  for  whom  it 
was  originally  prepared. 


PAET  I. 


THE  PURPOSE  OF  GOD  AND  THE  GOSPEL. 

"  Careless  seems  the  Great  Avenger  ;  history's  pages  but  record 
One  death-grapple  in  the  darkness  'twixt  old  systems  and  the  Word ; 
Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold,  Wrong  forever  on  the  throne,  — 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future,  and,  behind  the  dim  unknown, 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch  above  his  own." 

James  Russell  Lowell. 

"  For  after  that  in  the  wisdom  of  God  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not 
God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that 
believe."  1  Corinthians  i.  21. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  PREPARATION  FOR  THE  ADVENT  OF  THE  MESSLA.H. 

Though  man  often  works  irrationally  and  without 
plan,  God  never  does.  In  tlie  introduction  of  Christian- 
ity into  the  world  there  was  a  divine  plan  whose  work- 
ing out  reached  through  all  the  ages  until  the  complete 
embodiment  of  the  one  Gospel  in  the  four  forms  in 
which  it  appears  in  the  Bible.  Into  that  plan  the  an- 
cient world,  Jewish  and  Pagan,  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously entered.  In  general  terms,  it  has  been  said 
that  "  Judaism  prepared  salvation  for  mankind,  and 
heathenism  prepared  mankind  for  salvation."  ^  This 
statement  may  perhaps  be  shown  to  be  only  a  half-truth, 
—  since  it  will  be  found  that  Judaism  did  a  chief  part 

1  Kurtz,  Text  Booh  of  Ch.  History,  vol.  i.  p.  44. 


30  PREPARATION  FOR  MESSIAH. 

of  the  work  of  preparing  mankind  for  salvation,  —  but 
a  most  important  half-truth  nevertheless. 

Two  parts  may  be  seen  in  this  plan  :  a  first,  which  in- 
cludes the  preparation  made  for  the  Advent,  or  the  com- 
ing of  Messiah  ;  a  second,  which  includes  the  coming  and 
career  of  Messiah  and  the  preaching  and  written  embod- 
iment of  his  Gospel. 

The  preparation  for  the  advent  of  Jesus  Christ  in- 
volved the  missions  of  Jew  and  Pagan.  In  the  case  of 
the  former,  the  work  of  preparation  was  carried  on  by 
means  of  revelation ;  in  the  case  of  the  hitter  by  means 
of  free  experience.  So,  in  substance,  writes  Pressense.^ 
It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  revelation  had  much  to  do, 
through  the  Jewish  dispersion,  with  the  preparation  of 
the  heathen  world  for  Messiah. 


SECTION  I. 

THE  PEEPARATORY  MISSION  OF  THE   JEWS. 

"  The  salvation  is  of  the  Jews."  -  These  are  the 
words  of  Jesus  Christ  himself  to  the  woman  of  Samaria 
by  the  well  of  Sychar.  Salvation  is  the  one  necessity  of 
the  race.  No  religion,  therefore,  that  has  not  salvation 
as  its  essence  can  meet  the  wants  of  the  race. 

It  was  the  mission  of  the  Jew  to  receive  directly  from 
God,  and,  in  due  time,  transmit  to  the  whole  human  race 
the  only  religion  of  salvation,  and  therefore  the  only 
true  world-religion.  Everything  connected  with  the 
history  of  the  Jews  had  reference  to  the  completion  of 
this  one  religion  for  mankind.  Each  revelation  and  dis- 
pensation, all  discipline  and  punishment,  every  promise 
and  threatening,  their  constitution,  laws,  and  worship, 

1  Religions  before  Christ,  p.  191. 

2  John  iv.  22.     The  defiuite  article  used  in  the  original  gives  the  mean- 
ing :  The  (promised  and  only)  salvation  comes  from  the  Jews. 


MISSION   OF    THE  JEWS.  81 

every  political,  civil,  and  religious  institution  (so  far  as 
they  were  legitimate  and  proper),  tended  toward  this 
one  goal.^  In  the  light  of  providential  developments  and 
later  revelations,  the  divine  plan  as  connected  with  the 
Jews  may  readily  be  traced,  in  its  great  outlines,  from 
the  calling  of  Abraham  to  the  advent  of  Christ. 

The  history  of  the  chosen  people  has  been  providen- 
tially divided  into  two  periods,  the  first  of  which  ended 
with  the  captivity  and  the  extinction  of  national  inde- 
pendence, and  the  second,  with  the  Advent.  The  first 
was,  in  general  terms,  a  period  of  national  unity  and 
integrity,  and  of  complete  separation  from  the  outside 
world.  The  second  was  a  period  of  national  disintegra- 
tion, of  dispersion  throughout  the  whole  world,  and  of 
most  varied  union  with  mankind. 

To  the  careless  glance  there  seems  a  contradiction  in 
the  parts  of  this  divine  plan.  Why  first  the  policy  of 
complete  isolation,  and  then  an  abrupt  change  to  the  op- 
posite ?  As  always  elsewhere,  so  here,  to  a  closer  inspec- 
tion, the  unity  and  consistency  of  the  divine  purpose 
clearly  appear.  The  one  purpose  was  twofold.  The 
work  of  the  period  of  isolation  may  be  characterized  as 
the  revelation  of  the  world-religion  to  the  chosen  people 
and  the  establishment  of  its  sway  over  them.  The 
work  of  the  period  of  dispersion  may  be  characterized  as 
missionary  in  its  nature,  and  as  intended  to  impress  the 
world-religion,  in  the  form  in  which  it  had  been  revealed 
to  the  chosen  people,  upon  the  pagan  races,  in  order  to 
prepare  them  for  the  reception  of  the  Divine  Saviour 
with  his  salvation. 

I.    The  Jewish  Isolation. 

Two  great  epochs  are  to  be  distinguished  in  the  his- 
tory of  Judaism  during  the  period  of  isolation.     In  the 

1  Kurtz,  Text  Book  of  Ch.  History,  vol.  i.  p.  43. 


32  PREPARATION  FOR  MESSIAH. 

first,  the  Jewish  system  was  definitely  constituted,  re- 
ceiving its  institutions  from  God,  in  the  Covenant, 
through  Abraham,  and  in  the  Law,  through  Moses.  In 
the  second,  Israel  was  established  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
and  the  power  of  the  new  religion  developed  by  the 
growth  and  perfection  of  its  institutions  and  by  a  cycle 
of  sublime  revelations  throwing  vivid  light  upon  the 
future.  The  first  epoch  was  characterized  by  the  pre- 
dominance of  the  legal  element,  the  second,  by  that  of 
the  prophetic,  —  though  neither  element  was  ever  alto- 
gether absent.  The  Covenant,  the  Law,  and  the  Proph- 
ets thus  represent  the  three  aspects  of  the  Jewish  rehg- 
ion  during  the  age  of  isolation. 

The  Covenant.  The  first  stage  of  the  divine  work 
of  salvation  began  when  Abraham  of  Ur  of  the  Chal- 
dees  was  called  to  be  the  head  of  a  privileged  family, 
and  the  progenitor  of  a  race  privileged  for  the  world's 
sake. 

In  the  covenant  which  Jehovah  made  with  Abraham 
are  found  a  command,  a  promise,  and  a  seal. 

"  Get  thee  out  of  thj  country,  and  from  thy  kin- 
dred." ^  "I  am  the  Almighty  God ;  walk  before  me 
and  be  thou  perfect."  2  So  ran  the  command.  It  called 
to  a  separation  from  paganism  with  its  many  gods  and 
to  a  dedication  to  the  one  Almighty  God.  Its  monothe- 
ism and  its  separation  foreshadowed  the  more  complete 
revelation  and  law  which  were  to  come  by  Moses. 

*'  And  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will 
bless  thee,  and  make  thy  name  great;  and  thou  shalt  be  a 
blessing :  and  I  will  bless  them  that  bless  thee,  and  curse 
him  that  curseth  thee :  and  in  thee  shall  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  be  blessed."  ^  So  read  the  promise.  While 
assuring  to  Abraham  and  his  descendants  special  bless- 
ing and  grace,  whereby  they  should  be  exalted  and  the 

1  Genesis  xii.  1.  2  Genesis  xvii.  I.  ^  Genesis  xii.  2,  3. 


MISSION   OF   THE  JEWS.  33 

true  religion  preserved,  it  reached  out  to  the  whole  hu- 
man race  and  was  made  in  its  interests,  and  so  foreshad- 
owed the  world-religion  to  be  brought  in  by  Christ.  It 
involved  the  germ  of  all  the  subsequent  prophecies  of 
Messiah  and  all  the  later  developments  of  God's  plan  for 
the  salvation  of  the  world. 

''  This  is  my  covenant,  which  ye  shall  keep,  between 
me  and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee ;  every  man  child 
among  you  shall  be  circumcised."  ^  Such  was  the  seal. 
It  was  a  "  fit  symbol  of  that  removal  of  the  old  man  and 
renewal  of  nature  which  qualified  Abraham  to  be  the 
parent  of  a  holy  seed."  ^ 

Thus  were  furnished  the  germs  of  the  world-religion. 

The  Mosaic  System.  The  holy  seed  which  was 
called  and  created  ^  in  Abraham  grew  into  a  nation 
and  in  due  time  was  called  out  of  Egypt  to  receive, 
by  the  hand  of  Moses,  a  fuller  revelation  of  God's  law 
and  grace.  This  was  the  second  stage  of  the  divine 
work. 

The  era  of  the  Law  began  with  the  experience  in  the 
wilderness,  on  the  way  from  Egypt  to  the  promised  land. 
It  was  then  that  the  descendants  of  Abraham  received 
those  divine  revelations  which  shaped  their  whole  na- 
tional life.  They  were,  at  the  foundation,  revelations  of 
law,  and  expressed  what  it  was  God's  will  that  the  chosen 
people  should  do  and  become  ;  but  they  were  likewise 
revelations  of  grace,  unfolding  the  method  by  which  the 
people  might,  in  conduct  and  character,  attain  to  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  divine  will. 

The  legal  element  of  the  divine  revelation  through 
Moses  embraced  the  Jewish  civil  code  and  the  moral  law. 
The  chosen  people,  already  united  by  common  suffering 

1  Genesis  xvii,  10. 

2  Muvphy,  Commentary  on  Genesis,  xvii.  9-14. 
8  Hebrews  xi.  12. 


34  PREPARATION  FOR  MESSIAH. 

and  blessing,  were  tborougiily  organized  as  a  nation,  and 
their  union  confirmed  and  consolidated  at  Sinai,  by  the 
establishment  of  a  civil  code.  This  code  —  the  similar- 
ity of  which  to  our  own  has  been  remarked  by  the  emi- 
nent French  jurist,  De  Tocqueville  —  was  subordinate  to 
higher  than  civil  ends.^  The  moral  law,  summed  up  in 
the  Decalogue,  adjiressed  to  the  understanding,  sanc- 
tioned by  suitable  authority,  and  enforced  by  adequate 
penalties,  was  designed  to  impress  upon  the  people  God's 
moral  attributes.  It  was  "  the  clearest  expression  of  the 
holy  will  of  God  before  the  advent  of  Christ.  It  set 
forth  the  ideal  of  righteousness,  and  was  thus  fitted  most 
effectually  to  awaken  a  sense  of  man's  great  departure 
from  it,  and  to  give  the  knowledge  of  sin  and  guilt 
(Rom.  iii.  20).  It  acted  as  a  school-master  to  lead  men 
to  Christ  that  they  might  be  justified  by  faith  (Gal.  iii. 
24)."  2 

The  gracious  element  in  the  Mosaic  system,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  legal  element,  was  embodied  in  concrete 
and  sensible  form  in  the  ceremonial  law.  This  was  nec- 
essary, for  abstract  statement  was  not  enough.  God's 
purpose  both  of  law  and  grace  needed  to  be  put  into  such 
a  form  that  it  could  be  impressed  upon  the  mind  tlirough 
the  senses,  —  needed  to  be  put  in  the  form  of  a  perpetual 
object  lesson.  This  was  accomplished  by  the  ritual  of 
the  Mosaic  religion.  That  religion  was  embodied  in  the 
four  institutions  which  were  at  the  basis  of  all  the  an- 
cient religions  :  sacrifice  ;  the  priesthood  ;  the  sanctuary, 
or  sacred  place  of  adoration ;  and  religious  festivals,  or 
periods  consecrated  to  adoration.  These  institutions 
were  purified  from  all  heathen  elements  and  given  their 
full  significance. 

It  was   necessary   that    the  grace    element    should  be 

^   See  "Wines,  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  the  Ancient  Hebreics. 
2  SchafF,  History  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  p.  39. 


MISSION   OF   THE  JEWS.  35 

added  and  placed  over  against  the  law,  for  mere  law  was 
not  enough  to  save  men.  There  was  therefore  attached 
to  the  Mosaic  rites  "  both  a  symbolical  and  typical  value, 
representing  important  truths  having  a  present  applica- 
tion, and  being  at  the  same  time  the  shadow  of  good 
things  to  come."  ^  They  spoke  at  once  of  present  duty 
and  future  blessing.  The  moral  law  brought  despair  and 
death  ;  the  sacrifices  brought  in  the  idea  of  reparation, 
of  atonement,  by  death  for  death,  and  typified  the  great 
comino;  atonement.  The  moral  law  made  man  feel  his 
unfitness  to  approach  Jehovah  ;  the  priest,  set  apart  and 
purified,  appeared  between  the  sinner  and  an  offended 
God,  symbolizing  the  separation  while  typifying  the  great 
High  Priest  by  whom  the  race  should  be  brought  nigh  to 
God.  There  was  needed  a  permanent  centre  for  this  sac- 
rificial system,  a  sanctuary  ;  this  was  found  at  first  in  the 
tabernacle  (afterward  in  the  temple),  which  perpetually 
symbolized  the  salvation  of  God,  and  typified  the  better 
things  to  come.  The  people  must  be  brought  into  close 
and  frequent  contact  with  this  great  centre  that  they 
may  effectually  learn  the  lessons  of  their  religious  sys- 
tem ;  the  sacred  festivals,  with  the  daily  sacrifices  and 
sabbatic  ordinances,  were  for  this  end. 

The  Mosaic  ritual  and  the  whole  system  of  Judaism, 
given  in  the  wilderness,  were  developed  and  perfected  in 
the  land  of  promise.  Judjea  was  as  admirably  situated 
in  that  age,  for  maintaining  the  isolation  of  the  Israehtes 
from  all  the  world,  as  it  proved  to  be,  in  a  later  age  and 
in  altered  circumstances,  for  bringing  them  into  closest 
connection  and  union  with  all  the  world.  It  was  at  the 
common  centre  of  the  three  grand  divisions  of  the  old 
world,  and  surrounded  by  the  great  nations  of  ancient 
culture  ;  but  it  was  separated  from  them  by  deserts  on 
the  south  and  east,  by  sea  on  the  west,  and  by  mountains 
1  Prcssense,  The  Religions  before  Christ,  p.  207. 


36  PREPARATION   FOR  MESSIAH. 

on  the  north.^  The  Mosaic  legislation  reared  a  still  more 
impassable  barrier  than  deserts  and  seas  and  mountains, 
between  God's  people  and  the  pagan  world. 

What  with  the  land  and  the  legislation  and  the  de- 
struction of  the  Canaanites,  freedom  for  the  full  develop- 
ment of  Judaism,  without  disturbing  influences  from  the 
heathen  at  home  or  abroad,  was  secured.  When  the 
monarchy  reached  the  height  of  its  glory,  under  David 
and  Solomon,  the  ritual  reached  its  most  complete  and 
magnificent  embodiment  in  the  temple  then  erected  and 
made  the  centre  of  the  Jewish  system. 

Development  of  Prophecy.  The  third  stage  in  the 
divine  work  had  already  been  entered  upon.  While  the 
law  was  advancing  toward  its  most  perfect  unfolding, 
the  element  of  prophecy  began  to  assume  increasing  prom- 
inence. 

The  Pentateuch  opens  with  the  promise  that  the  seed 
of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head.  That 
promise  had  always  kept  its  place  in  the  unfolding  of 
Judaism.  To  Abraham  it  was  made  more  definite ; 
from  his  seed  was  to  come  the  mysterious  benefactor  who 
was  to  restore  the  whole  human  race.  Thus  the  promise 
of  the  world-religion,  the  theme  and  burden  of  prophecy, 
was  given.  Each  new  phase  of  Jewish  history  enriched 
it. 

In  the  time  of  Samuel,  some  eleven  centuries  before 
Christ,  prophecy  received  an  organized  form  in  a  perma- 
nent prophetical  office  and  order,  and  was  thus  prepared 
to  take  its  place  as  a  leading  element  in  the  Jewish  re- 
ligious development.  It  was  the  vocation  of  the  prophet 
to  keep  alive  the  fundamental  truth  of  the  covenant,  to 
keep  before  the  minds  of  the  people  their  high  vocation, 
to  call  them  back  from  idolatry,  and  to  inspire  them  with 
a  living  faith  in  their  glorious  destiny.  Borrowing  his 
1  Schaff,  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  p.  36. 


MISSION   OF   THE   JEWS.  37 

symbols  from  the  times  in  which  he  Hved,  and  thus  secur- 
ing an  ever-present  freshness,  the  prophet  of  the  Lord 
pointed,  with  a  clearness  increasing  to  the  last,  to  the 
Messiah  in  whom  all  the  promises  should  be  realized  to 
Israel  and  to  the  world. 

Says  Dr.  William  H.  Green,  in  an  essay  on  "  The  Mat- 
ter of  Prophecy  "  :  "  The  prophetic  exhibition  of  Christ 
is  accomplished  by  successive  teachings,  each  suited  to  its 
own  age  and  its  own  special  design,  but  all  combining  to 
produce  the  general  effect.  The  prophets  may  thus  be 
likened  to  a  grand  orchestra.  Each  musician  plays  a 
part  adapted  to  his  own  particular  instrument,  which, 
taken  by  itself,  is  designed  to  give  a  particular  effect  to 
the  piece  ;  and  yet  they  are  attuned  in  such  precise  har- 
mony, and  so  contrived  with  reference  to  the  various  pos- 
sibilities of  the  melody,  that,  combined  upon  the  oratorio 
of  the  Messiah,  they  bring  out,  as  could  in  no  other  way 
be  done,  the  full  power  of  that  magnificent  production. 
The  necessities  of  one  period  call  for  the  presentation  of 
the  coming  Saviour  and  his  work  under  one  point  of 
view  ;  those  of  other  periods  lead  to  the  contemplation 
of  them  from  different  sides.  And  the  necessities  of  the 
people,  as  they  arise  in  the  progress  of  their  history,  are 
themselves  accommodated  to  the  grand  end  to  be  accom- 
plished, being  of  such  a  variety  and  character,  that  the 
instructions  which  they  demand  may  complete  the  total 
of  the  revelations  to  be  made  respecting  Messiah  before 
his  advent."  ^ 

When  the  prophetic  era  closed,  the  idea  of  the  coming 
Messiah,  to  whom  the  whole  ritual  pointed  and  in  whom 
all  prophecy  centred,  had  been  made  as  prominent  in  the 
Jewish  mind  as  was  the  law  when  it  had  become  en- 
shrined in  the  temple  of  Solomon  at  the  close  of  the  legal 
period.  Every  eye  was  turned  toward  the  coming  Christ. 
1  Princeton  Review,  The  Matter  of  Prophecy,  October,  1862. 


38  PREPARATION   FOR  MESSIAH. 

But  before  this  great  work  had  been  fully  accomplished 
and  the  voices  of  the  prophets  hushed,  the  chosen  peo- 
ple had  passed  from  the  period  of  isolation  from  all  the 
world  to  the  period  of  dispersion  through  all  the  world. 

II.    The  Jewish  Dispersion. 

Certain  events  in  the  progress  of  the  prophetic  period, 
and  especially  toward  its  close,  prepared  for  the  transi- 
tion from  the  early  condition  of  national  unity  and  iso- 
lation to  the  later  one  of  disintegration  ■  and  dispersion. 
The  extraordinary  material  prosperity  of  the  Jewish 
monarchy  began  the  work  of  breaking  down  the  barriers 
between  the  chosen  people  and  the  world  ;  the  judgments 
of  God  completed  it.  In  the  prosperity  and  the  judg- 
ments originated  the  system  of  means  divinely  employed 
for  disseminating  the  truths  of  the  world-religion; 

Prosperity  and  judgments.  In  pusliing  the  bounds 
of  his  kingdom  out  to  the  limits  of  the  other  great  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  King  David  made  the  Israelites  one 
of  the  most  prominent  nations  of  that  age,  the  rival  in 
power  and  splendor  of  Eg3^pt  and  Assyria,  and  a  fit 
object  for  their  fear  and  jealousy. 

Still  later,  the  necessity  for  gold  and  silver  and  other 
building  materials,  arising  from  the  construction  of  the 
temple  of  Solomon  and  the  various  works  in  which  that 
monarch  attempted  to  rival  the  other  great  empires,  gave 
an  impulse  to  a  world-wide  commerce  and  intercourse. 
The  sea  on  the  west  ceased  to  be  a  barrier,  and  became 
instead  a  highway  to  the  nations,  even  as  far  west  as 
Tarshish  or  Spain.  The  ports  of  Ezion-geber  and  Elath, 
at  the  head  of  the  Akabah,  opened  the  way  for  an  active 
trade,  both  to  the  south  and  east,  with  the  nations  aloug 
the  Red  Sea  and  the  Indian  Ocean.  The  deserts  on  the 
east,  north  and  south,  no  longer  shut  them  out  from  the 
older  nations  of  the  world  from  which  the  Jewish  race 


MISSION   OF   THE  JEWS.  39 

originally  sprung.  By  building  Tadmor,  or  Palmyra, 
on  an  oasis  midway  between  Damascus  and  the  Eu- 
phrates, Solomon  gained  control  of  the  immense  trade  of 
Egypt  and  Asia  Minor  with  the  east  by  caravan,  and 
thus  made  the  wealth  of  both  the  east  and  the  west 
tributary  to  the  prosperity  of  his  own  realm.  A  highway 
for  trade  was  opened  into  Egypt,  and  Solomon  allied 
himself  to  Pharaoh  by  marrying  his  daughter.  The  way 
was  thus  prepared  for  the  Jews,  who  were  by  nature  a 
race  of  merchants,  to  become  the  merchants  of  the 
■world. 

The  story  of  the  very  general  departure  of  the  Je^vish 
race  from  the  true  God  and  of  their  lapse  into  idolatry, 
which  resulted  from  their  connection  with  the  heathen 
nations,  is  too  familiar  to  need  rehearsal.  In  tliis  defec- 
tion Solomon  himself — who,  with  all  his  wisdom,  was 
unable  to  withstand  the  seductive  influences  of  prosperity 
—  took  the  lead,  by  the  introduction  and  establishment  of 
idolatry  in  the  various  forms  in  which  it  was  practiced 
by  his  heathen  wives.  He  had  taken  these  wives  in  dis- 
obedience to  God's  plain  command,  thereby  showing  his 
own  early  departure  from  the  true  religion. 

The  story  of  the  divine  judgments  which  followed  the 
apostasy  of  the  chosen  people  is  equally  familiar.  The 
divine  wrath  did  not  delay,  but  fell  even  upon  Solomon. 
At  his  death  the  vast  empire  of  David  had  already  shrunk 
to  its  original  narrow  limits,  and  the  Lord  declared  that 
even  what  remained  should  be  rent  from  his  successors. 
Jeroboam,  when  he  had  drawn  off  the  ten  tribes  in  re- 
volt, established  the  idolatrous  worship  as  the  religion 
of  the  State,  and  from  that  time  Israel,  or  the  ten  tribes, 
made  haste  to  destruction,  in  spite  of  the  many  warnings 
and  judgments  of  God.  The  final  blow  fell  when  Shal- 
manezer,  king  of  Assyria,  took  Samaria,  razed  it,  de- 
stroyed the  kingdom  of  Israel,  and  carried  the  captives 


40  PREPARATION   FOR  MESSIAH. 

away  to  Halali  and  Habor  (Chebar).  Judah  followed 
in  the  idolatry  of  Israel,  and  a  little  more  than  a  cent- 
ury later  its  people  were  carried  away  captive  to  Baby- 
lon, save  a  remnant  that  fled  into  Egypt. 

The  prophetic  activity  reached  its  height  during  the 
decline  and  captivity.  It  was  then  that  the  sins  against 
the  covenant  needed  most  to  be  rebuked.  Early  in  that 
period  appeared  Elijah  and  Elisha,  who  wrought  more 
miracles  than  any  prophet  since  the  days  of  Moses  and 
Joshua.  Just  before  the  overthrow  of  Israel,  Isaiah  and 
Micah  flourished  in  Judah,  contemporary  with  Hosea 
and  Amos  in  Israel.  The  two  former  survived  that 
overthrow,  and  were  succeeded  by  Nahum  and  Zephaniah, 
through  whom,  in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  and  Josiah,  a 
partial  and  temporary  reformation  was  wrought  in  Ju- 
dah. 

It  is  obvious,  moreover,  that  in  the  captivity  the  hopes 
of  the  Messiah  needed  to  be  kept  most  clearly  before  the 
people.  Still  more  earnestly,  therefore,  did  the  prophets 
then  ply  their  vocation  among  the  captives  of  Judah, 
directing  them  in  working  God's  purposes,  —  Jeremiah 
with  the  remnant  in  Egypt ;  Ezekiel  among  those  by 
the  river  of  Chebar ;  Daniel  at  the  court  of  the  great 
eastern  monarch  ;  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  in  leading  back 
the  band  that  rebuilt  Jerusalem  and  the  temple.  Hag- 
gai,  Zechariah,  and  Malachi,  after  the  restoration,  con- 
cluded the  communications  of  God,  in  that  age,  touching 
the  coming  of  Messiah  and  the  great  events  of  the  future, 
using  the  deliverance  from  captivity  as  the  type  of  Mes- 
siah's work.  With  them  the  roll  of  the  prophets  ended, 
and  the  voice  of  prophecy  ceased  till  the  near  approach 
of  the  Advent. 

Disseraination  of  the  World-religion.  The  work  of 
transmitting  the  true  religion  from  the  narrow  limits 
of  the  Jewish  race,  where  it  had  been  prepared,  to  the 


MISSION   OF  THE  JEWS.  41 

widest  limits  of  the  human  race,  for  which  it  had  been 
prepared,  had  ah*eady  begun. 

Providentially,  in  connection  with  the  prosperity  and 
the  judgments,  there  was  somehow  perfected  the  most 
complete  system  of  means  possible  for  the  dissemination 
of  the  truth.  It  may  now  be  seen  that  everything 
wrought  together  marvelously  in  God's  plan,  and  for 
the  accomplishment  of  his  ends.  It  is  manifest  from  his- 
tory that  the  captivity  and  dispersion  made  tlie  profound- 
est  moral  impression  upon  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  and 
that  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  resulted  in  the  most 
constant  and  intimate  intercourse  of  Jerusalem  with  all 
the  world. 

The  captivity  produced  a  revolution  in  the  sentiments 
of  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  respecting  the  true  Judaism. 

It  cured  the  Jews  of  their  idolatry,  bound  them  as 
never  before  to  their  sacred  records,  and  urged  them  on 
to  make  proselytes  of  all  the  world.  Says  Dr.  S chaff : 
"  As  to  religion,  the  Jews,  especially  after  the  Baby- 
lonish captivity,  adhered  most  tenaciously  to  the  letter  of 
the  law,  and  to  their  traditions  and  ceremonies,  but 
without  knowing  the  spirit  and  power  of  the  Script- 
ures." ^  This  is  the  universal  testimonj^  on  the  sub- 
ject. Neander  has  shown  how  the  Pharisees,  or  strict 
Jews,  labored  to  make  proselytes.  The  wavering  au- 
thority of  the  old  national  religions,  the  unsatisfied  relig- 
ious necessities  of  so  many,  came  in  to  aid  them.  Hence, 
the  inclination  to  Judaism,  particularly  in  the  large  capi- 
tal cities,  became  very  marked.^ 

The  character  of  the  Jew,  as  elevated  by  the  judg- 
ments of  the  captivity,  turned  the  favorable  attention  of 
the  heathen  world  to  the  true  religion.  The  Jew  was 
the  cultured  religious  man  of  that  age.     With  Egypt  he 

1  Schaff,  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  p.  37. 

2  Neander,  Church  History,  vol.  i.  p.  67. 


42  PREPARATION   FOR   MESSIAH. 

had  shared  the  early  knowledge  of  the  arts.  In  the  exo- 
dus, before  the  origin  of  Greek  letters,  his  written  lan- 
guage exhibited  the  fruits  of  his  sojourn  in  the  land  of 
the  Nile.  He  belonged  to  that  Semitic  race  which  has 
given  the  world,  besides  so  many  precious  words  of  sci- 
ence and  art,  the  three  great  and  only  systems  of  The- 
ism. 

It  is  obvious,  too,  that  the  religion  of  the  Jew,  unlike 
that  of  the  heathen,  was  bound  to  a  law  of  moral  purity. 
Men  might  complain  that  they  could  not  see  the  God  of 
the  Jew  ;  but  the}^  could  not  help  feeling  the  morality 
of  his  law.  As  a  slave  in  heathen  households  moulding 
the  young,  as  a  steward  overseeing  his  master's  business, 
as  a  counselor  of  kings  directing  the  destinies  of  nations, 
the  true  Israelite  was  everywhere  doing  in  his  measure, 
by  the  purity  and  diligence  of  his  life,  the  work  which 
Daniel  the  prophet  did,  in  the  highest,  positions,  by  his 
personal  influence  in  winning  men  to  his  own  pure  and 
lofty  faith. 

The  Jew,  moreover,  was  then  as  ever  the  thrifty  man  of 
the  world.  Born  with  a  tendenc}^  to  acquisition,  made  by 
his  religion  a  man  to  be  trusted,  he  was  prepared  by  his 
tact  and  thrift  and  enterprise  to  be  the  banker,  merchant, 
and  executive  man  of  business,  and  so  to  cooperate  in  the 
work  for  heathendom  which  God  was  carr3ang  forward 
both  by  natural  and  supernatural  agencies.  Xerxes,  who 
attempted  the  conquest  of  Greece,  had  a  Jewish  cup- 
bearer, a  Jewish  consort,  and  a  Jewish  prime  minister. 

But  the  most  striking  impressions  made  upon  the  na- 
tions in  favor  of  the  true  religion  were  due  to  the  special 
manifestations  of  divine  power. 

These  manifestations  were  very  marked  during  the  ex- 
ile. They  were  needed  both  to  correct  and  comfort  the 
people  of  God,  and  also  to  impress  the  character  of  Je- 
hovah, as  the  only  true  God,  upon  the  greatest  of  the 


MISSION   OF   THE  JEWS.  43 

Oriental  Empires.  In  all  this  miracalous  work,  tlie 
prophets  were  the  representatives  of  God.  Foremost 
among  them  all  was  Daniel,  the  most  faultless  character 
of  the  old  dispensation,  and  one  of  the  grandest  of  all  the 
prophets.  The  book  which  bears  his  name  is  one  con- 
tinued record  of  miracles  of  power  and  foresight,  wrought 
at  the  veiy  centre  of  oriental  magnificence,  and  exerting 
an  influence  on  the  future  destiny  of  the  nations  that 
witnessed  them,  perhaps  greater  than  those  wrought  in 
Egypt  and  at  Sinai.  Kings  heard  his  prophecies,  and 
knew  that  God  spoke  by  him.  They  witnessed  his  mi- 
raculous works  and  his  striking  deliverances,  and  ac- 
knowledged the  God  of  the  Jews  to  be  *'  the  God  of 
gods."  By  royal  decrees  they  did  what  was  in  their 
power  to  make  their  own  feeling  the  universal  feeling  of 
western  Asia.  Influenced  by  the  prophet,  Cyrus  issued 
the  decree  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  and  provided 
the  requisite  means  for  the  work.  The  reestablishment 
at  Jerusalem  of  a  grand  religious  centre,  from  which 
light  was  to  go  out  into  all  the  world  while  men  were 
waiting  for  the  advent  of  Messiah,  was  therefore  one  of 
the  most  impressive  proofs  of  the  wonderful  revolution 
wrought  by  the  exile, in  Oriental  heathendom. 

The  New  Religious  Centre.  Never  was  there  a  more 
complete  and  marvelous  provision  of  God  than  that  for 
making  the  most  of  this  moral  impression,  upon  Jew 
and  Gentile,  in  giving  the  true  religion  the  widest  possi- 
ble influence.  The  restored  city  and  temple,  the  com- 
pleted canon  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  synagogue  system 
constitute  the  chief  features  of  that  provision. 

Jerusalem  was  restored  to  be  henceforth  not  a  national 
centre,  as  under  David  and  Solomon,  but  simply  a  relig- 
ious metropolis  to  the  whole  dispersed  nation,  from  which 
sliould  go  forth  the  spiritual  influences  which  should  fash- 
ion the  future  of  mankind. 


44  PREPARATION  FOR   MESSIAH. 

Hence  tlie  edict  of  Cyrus,  which  originated  in  the  di- 
vine counsels,  was  a  permission  and  not  a  command.  The 
long  period  of  war  and  desolation  had  changed  the  aspect 
of  Judaea.  It  had  ceased  to  be  in  the  old  sense  "  a  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey."  It  could  never  again  be 
the  great  natural  centre  of  wealth  it  had  once  been,  for 
the  line  of  trade  had  been  changed,  and  its  history  was 
to  be  one  of  dependence.  Henceforward  it  must  be 
sought  as  a  home  chiefly  for  the  memories  of  what  it  had 
been,  or  for  the  hopes  of  what  it  should  again  become 
through  the  Messiah. 

No  decree  of  earthly  king  could  have  brought  back 
more  than  a  small  portion  of  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham. The  great  mass  had  become  engaged  in  commerce, 
banking,  and  retail  traffic,  and  would  not  make  the  Holy 
City  their  place  of  residence.  "  The  emigrants  doubt- 
less consisted  chiefly  of  the  pious  and  the  poor  ;  and  as 
the  latter  proved  docile  to  their  teachers,  a  totally  new 
spirit  reigned  in  the  restored  nation."  ^  Jerusalem  thus 
became  comparatively  pure,  as  a  religious  centre,  and 
was  fitted  to  elevate  the  Jews  of  the  dispersion  who  came 
up  from  year  to  year  to  the  great  festivals. 

While  the  Holy  City  and  the  temple  were  thus  being 
restored,  the  divine  religion,  which  gave  them  their  sig- 
nificance and  their  sacredness,  was  receiving  its  final  and 
unalterable  written  form. 

One  step  toward  securing  this  result  was  taken  in  the 
gathering  up  of  the  sacred  writings  and  the  completion 
of  the  Old  Testament  canon,  by  Ezra,  the  propliet  and 
scribe.  From  that  time  forward  nothing  was  to  be  added 
to  the  word  of  God  until  Christ  should  come,  and  the 
Jews  guarded  it  with  jealous  care  against  all  attempted 
additions  whatsoever. 

Another  step  was  taken  when  the  Hebrew  ceased  to 
1  See  Kitto,  Cyclopcedia,  article  "Captivities." 


MISSION   OF   THE   JEWS.  45 

be  a  living  language.  Living  languages  change ;  old 
words  die  or  receive  new  meanings  ;  new  words  are  con- 
stantly produced.  "With  a  living  language,  in  constant 
contact  with  new  phases  of  Oriental  and  Greek  thought, 
the  Jews  might  have  greatly  corrupted  the  sacred  rec- 
ords. But  in  the  violent  disruption  and  the  foreign  in- 
tercourse, the  Hebrew  became  a  dead  tongue,  and  Juda- 
ism, in  its  divinely  revealed  form,  thus  became  fixed 
and  incapable,  through  the  centuries  preceding  the  ad- 
vent of  Messiah,  of  any  extensive  corruption.  From  the 
day  of  the  restoration  the  true  religion  spoke  out  from 
that  spiritual  centre  of  the  world  with  no  uncertain 
voice. 

The  establishment  and  development  of  the  synagogue 
system  furnished  the  connecting  link  between  the  tem- 
ple with  its  divine  religion,  and  the  Jew  of  the  disper- 
sion, and  the  heathen  world  wherever  the  Jew  was  to  be 
found. 

The  synagogue  probably  originated  during  the  captiv- 
it}^  At  all  events,  its  great  development  took  place  then. 
When  the  temple  had  been  destroyed,  the  Jews  natu- 
rally established  the  synagogue  to  take  its  place  in  keep- 
ing up  their  religion.  The  rule  was,  that  "  a  synagogue 
was  to  be  erected  in  every  place  where  there  were  ten 
Batelnim^  that  is,  ten  persons  of  full  age  and  free  condi- 
tion always  at  leisure  to  attend  the  service  of  it."^  The 
services  to  be  performed  in  these  synagogue  assemblies 
were  prayers,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  expounding 
them.  Morning  and  evening  the  Law  was  read  on  three 
days  in  the  week,  and  then  on  the  Sabbath  it  was  re- 
read. Each  year  the  five  books  of  Moses  were  read 
through  and  repeated.  Besides,  each  day  had  its  reading 
of  the  Prophets,  and  of  certain  passages  of  the  Law 
called  the  Sliema.     The  greatest  familiarity  with  the  let- 

*  See  Prideaux,  Old  and  New  Testament  Connected,  vol.  i.  pp.  298,  299. 


46  PREPAKATIOX  FOR   MESSIAH. 

ter  of  the  Scriptures  was  thus  secured  wherever  the  wan- 
derings of  the  Jews  carried  the  synagogue  system. 

After  the  restoration  of  the  temple,  the  cessation  of 
prophecy  turned  the  attention  of  the  rehgious  leaders  at 
that  great  centre  with  tenfold  eagerness  to  the  study  of 
the  Scriptures,  especially  of  the  prophecies  concerning 
the  Messiah.  The  Jews  of  the  dispersion,  who  went  up 
annually  in  immense  numbers  to  Jerusalem  to  the  great 
religious  festivals,  carried  back  from  the  temple  to  the 
synagogues,  in  all  parts  of  the  pagan  world,  the  latest 
developments  of  this  study.  The  extent  of  this  inter- 
course may  be  imagined  from  the  statement  of  Josephus, 
that,  when  Jerusalem  was  besieged  by  the  Romans  under 
Titus,  three  millions  of  Jews,  who  had  come  up  to  the 
Passover,  were  shut  in  by  the  besiegers. 

By  this  vast  telegraphic  system  the  latest  thought  at 
Jerusalem  was  speedily  made  the  propert}^  of  all  the 
Jews,  and  through  them  was  borne  to  the  doors  of  the 
entire  pagan  world.  As  the  time  of  the  Advent  drew 
nigh,  the  expectation  of  a  coming  Messiah,  deepened  and 
directed  to  the  times  designated  in  prophecy,  had  been 
awakened  in  all  lands.  All  men  were  looking  for  a  great 
Deliverer  to  come  out  of  Judsea. 

The  old  religion  in  its  Jewish  form  had  done  its  part 
of  the  preparatory  work  for  the  Christ,  in  accordance 
with  the  divine  plan. 

SECTION  n. 

THE   PREPARATORY  ]\nSSION   OF   THE   GENTH^ES. 

A  view  of  the  preparation  for  the  Messiah  would  be 
incomplete  if  confined  to  the  Jews  alone.  Salvation  has 
been  seen  to  have  come  forth  from  JudaBa,  but  to  be 
adapted  to  the  necessities  of  the  world.  Three  great  his- 
toric races,  the  Oriental,  the  Greek,  and  the  Roman,  sue- 


MISSION    OF   THE   GENTILES.  47 

cessively  entered,  along  witli  the  Jew,  into  the  work  of 
preparing  the  world  for  the  advent  of  Messiah  and  the 
spread  of  his  divine  salvation. 

This  was  in  accordance  with  the  prophecies  of  Daniel, 
contained  in  the  second  and  seventh  chapters  of  his  book. 
These  great  empires  were  to  precede  and  prepare  the 
way  for  the  miglitier  kingdom  of  Messiah  which  the  God 
of  heaven  should  set  np,  and  Avhich  should  be  an  ever- 
lasting kingdom.  Each  will  be  found  to  have  accom- 
plished a  twofold  preparatory  work. 

I.   Tlie  3Iission  of  the    Oriental  Races. 

The  Oriental  empires  which  entered  into  this  work 
were  the  Babylonian,  represented  by  the  head  of  gold  in 
the  great  image  of  prophecy,  and  the  less  magnificent 
Medo-Persian,  represented  by  the  arms  and  breast  of 
silver.  In  the  later  prophecy,  of  the  four  beasts,  the 
former  is  symbolized  by  the  first  beast,  which  was  like  a 
lion,  and  had  eagle's  wings ;  since  it  was  a  lion  in 
strength  and  an  eagle  in  swiftness :  the  latter  is  symbol- 
ized by  the  second  beast,  which  was  like  a  bear  ;  since,  in 
the  desire  for  conquest,  it  was  all-voracious  like  the  bear. 

The  Oriental  Problem.  These  great  Oriental  races 
represented  material  riches,  power,  and  grandeur.  It 
was  a  subordinate  part  of  their  mission  to  prove  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  greatest  wealth,  luxury,  and  splendor 
to  satisfy  and  save  man.  It  was  the  problem  on  which 
Solomon  wrought,  and  whose  solution  he  gives  in  Eccle- 
siastes  when  he  brings  back  from  his  varied  experience 
the  conclusion  :  "  Fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments, 
for  this  is  the  whole  of  man,"  — the  same  problem,  only 
on  a  vastly  grander  scale.  The  nations  of  the  Orient 
came  from  its  attempted  solution  wretched  and  perishing. 
But  the  more  important  part  of  their  mission  was  to  fur- 
nish the  agencies  and  theatre  for  the  Jewish  dispersion, 


48  PREPARATION   FOR  MESSIAH. 

and  for  the  early  dissemination  of  the  germs  of  the 
world-religion.  For  this  they  were  eminently  fitted. 
The  Jew  was  their  proper  representative,  belonging  to 
their  own  race.  He  had  come  forth  from  the  valley  of 
the  Euphrates,  in  Abraham  the  Chaldee.  The  captivity 
was  but  a  return  to  the  primitive  home.  Who  was  so 
entitled  as  the  Jew  to  be  called  the  representative  Ori- 
ental ? 

The  Oriental  races  could  most  easily  come  into  sym- 
pathy with  Judaism,  and  could  most  readily  furnish  the 
conditions  requisite  for  the  fuller  development  of  the 
germs  of  the  true  religion.  In  the  Oriental  mind, 
therefore,  the  Jew  was  to  place  the  grand  truths  of  his 
religion  first,  and  thus  to  open  the  way  to  reach,  at  a 
later  date,  the  Greek  and  Roman.  By  their  self-will  and 
brute  force  the  Oriental  races  were  meantime  to  chastise 
the  Jewish  race  and  cure  it  of  its  idolatry. 

II.    The  3Iission  of  the  Grreeks. 

The  eastern  empires  fell  successively  under  the  sen- 
tence which  the  handwriting  on  the  wall  passed  upon 
Belshazzar,  and  which  history  repeats  against  every  des- 
potism to  the  end  of  time :  "  Thou  art  weighed  in  the 
balance  and  found  wanting,"  —  wanting  in  fulfilling  the 
true  ends  of  states  and  governments,  in  securing  the 
welfare  of  mankind  and  their  union  in  the  bonds  of  social 
life.i 

In  the  later  period  of  its  history,  when  in  the  height 
of  power  under  Xerxes,  the  Medo-Persian  empire  came 
into  direct  and  open  conflict  with  the  West  as  repre- 
sented by  Greece,  the  nation  which  was  divinely  ap- 
pointed to  work  out  another  problem,  —  wdiether  man's 
free  energy  in  poetry  and  art,  in  learning  and  philoso- 
phy, could  perfect  his  social  state,  and  thus  accomplish 
1  See  Philip  Smith,  History  of  the  World,  vol.  i.  p.  242. 


MISSION   OF   THE   GENTILES.  49 

that  in  which  the  East  with  its  despotic  power  and  wealth 
and  magnificence  had  failed. 

The  Greek  empire  under  Alexander  was  the  third 
kingdom  which  was  to  rule  over  all  the  earth.  Its 
strength  is  represented  by  the  brass  of  the  image  of  the 
vision,  in  Daniel,  and  the  rapidity  of  its  conquests  and 
the  insatiableness  of  its  ambition,  by  the  third  beast,  the 
leopard,  with  its  four  wings  and  four  heads.^ 

The  Greek  Problem.  In  its  career  the  Greek  race 
tested  the  insufficiency  of  the  human  reason  with  the 
highest  human  culture  to  satisfy  and  save  man  ;  while 
in  the  conquests  of  Alexander  it  gave  the  world  the  high- 
est human  civilization  of  the  ancient  ages,  and  the  most 
perfect  of  languages  in  which  to  embody  the  true  re- 
ligion. These  are  the  main  points  of  interest  in  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Greek.  In  fact,  Greek  wisdom  exhausted  its 
free  energies  upon  the  same  great  problem  which  despotic 
Oriental  power  and  magnificence  had  failed  to  solve. 

For  a  millennium  the  Greek  race  directed  its  varied 
powers  and  consummate  genias  in  vain  to  the  work  of 
perfecting  humanity.  It  achieved  the  greatest  results  in 
thought  ever  permitted  to  unaided  human  effort.  Its 
civilization  was  one  of  the  grandest  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  —  grand  in  its  recognitions  of  humanity,  in  its  po- 
etry and  philosophy,  in  its  science  and  art.  But  its  cult- 
ure was  purely  intellectual,  having  no  religious  and 
moral  ground  of  support  capable  of  withstanding  every 
shock  and  indestructible  under  all  changes,  and  in  the 
natural  course  of  its  development  it  could  only  degener- 
ate into  false  civilization  and  end  in  social  corruption. 
It  had  no  light  and  life  from  God.  *'  There  was  yet  no 
salt  to  preserve  the  life  of  humanity  from  decomposing, 
or  to  restore  it  back  again  when  passing  to  decomposi- 
tion." 

1  Daniel  ii.  32,  39  ;  vii.  6. 
4 


50  PREPARATION   FOR   MESSIAH. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  Greek  did  every- 
thing toward  the  perfecting  of  man  that  could  be  done 
by  a  purely  intellectual  civilization.  He  demonstrated 
for  all  time  what  human  reason,  when  situated  most  fa- 
vorably and  tasked  to  the  utmost,  could  accomplish  for 
the  salvation  of  a  race  with  endowments  superior  to  the 
other  races.     The  later  ages  showed  it  to  be  very  little. 

It  became  manifest  that  the  glory  of  the  Greek  thought 
needed  to  be  saved  from  its  own  corruption,  —  saved  for 
the  good  of  mankind.  This  could  only  be  accomplished 
by  extending  its  sway  over  the  Oriental  empires,  and 
bringing  it  in  contact  with  the  saving  influences  of  the 
world-religion  which  was  being  diffused  everywhere  by 
the  scattered  and  exiled  seed  of  Abraham. 

The  "World  Hellenized.  When  the  Greek  had  voiced 
his  wonderful  thoughts  of  beauty  and  power  in  a  lan- 
guage made  for  them  and  by  them,  and,  therefore,  the 
most  perfect  of  the  languages  of  the  ancient  ages,  —  the 
one  most  worthy  to  become  the  world-language,  —  and 
before  the  blight  and  decay  had  fallen  upon  the  race, 
Alexander  of  Macedon  appeared  to  perform  the  needed 
office  of  Hellenizing  the  world. 

Of  the  work  of  Alexander,  Howson  says  :  "He  took 
up  tlie  meshes  of  the  net  of  civilization,  which  were  lying 
in  disorder  on  the  edges  of  the  Asiatic  shore,  and  spread 
them  over  all  the  countries  which  he  traversed  in  his 
wonderful  campaigns.  The  East  and  the  West  were 
suddenly  brought  together.  Separated  tribes  were  united 
under  a  common  government.  New  cities  were  built,  as 
the  centres  of  political  life.  New  lines  of  communication 
were  opened,  as  the  channels  of  commercial  activity. 
The  new  culture  penetrated  the  mountain  ranges  of 
Pisidia  and  Lycaonia.  The  Tigris  and  Euphrates  became 
Greek  rivers.  The  language  of  Athens  was  heard  among 
the  Jewish  colonies  of  Babvlonia ;  and  a  Grecian  Baby- 


MISSION    OF   THE    GENTILES.  51 

Ion  was  built  by  the  conqueror  in  Egypt  and  called  by 
his  name."  ^ 

When  Alexander  passed  away  leaving  his  vast  plans 
unfinished,  in  his  dying  words,  ''  to  the  strongest,"  he 
left  his  empire  to  the  only  men  who  could  have  carried 
out  the  work  of  making  the  world  permanently  Greek, 
—  his  own  great  generals  whom  he  had  trained  to  com- 
mand. When  the  empire  was  broken  into  four,  the  four 
were  Greek,  and  Antioch  and  Alexandria  rivaled  Athens 
and  Corinth  as  centres  of  Greek  learning  and  art.^ 

From  Alexander  to  the  Advent  Judaism  and  Hellenism 
were  in  world-wide  contact.  The  man  of  prophecy  was 
elevating  the  view  of  the  man  of  reason,  while  the  man 
of  reason  was  widening  the  vision  of  the  man  of  proph- 
ecy. Even  where  the  Greek  contemptuously  held  him- 
self aloof  from  the  Jew,  the  Jewish  religion  was  one  of 
the  most  powerful  influences  in  breaking  down  the  old 
paganism.  At  the  bar  of  reason,  polytheism  could  not 
stand  before  the  doctrine  of  one  God.  It  was  doomed 
from  the  hour  when  the  Greek  heard  the  first  whispers 
concerning  Jehovah.  But  the  Greek  did  not  everywhere 
hold  himself  aloof ;  the  two  modes  of  thought  came 
into  direct  contact ;  the  philosopher  and  the  scribe  met 
and  became  one.  This  occurred  especially  in  the  great 
centres.  At  Alexandria,  the  Septuagint,  or  Greek  ver- 
sion of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  was  made  three 
centuries  before  the  Advent,  for  the  use  of  those  employ- 
ing the  Greek  language,  and  the  old  revelation  of  the 
world-religion  was  thus  scattered  abroad  for  the  Greek- 
speaking  communities.  At  the  same  centre  of  culture 
Platonism  and  Judaism  came  together  and  were  consoli- 

1  See  Conybeare  and  Howson,  Life,  Times,  and  Travels  of  St.  Paul, 
vol.  i.  p.  9. 

2 .  See  Dollinger,  The  Gentiles  and  Jews  in  the  Court  of  the  Temple  of 
Christ,  vol.  i.  p.  341. 


52  PREPARATION   FOR   LIESSIAH. 

dated  in  the  Neo-Platonism  which  exerted  such  an  in- 
fluence both  before  and  after  the  Advent. 

In  this  twofold  manner,  by  despair  of  reason  and  hope 
from  prophecy,  the  Greek  was  borne  onward  to  the 
completion  of  his  part  in  the  work  of  preparation  for 
the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  until  mankind  was  found  in 
possession  of  the  world-religion  with  its  predictions  of 
the  coming  Redeemer,  written  in  the  perfected  world- 
language,  and  made  capable  of  greater  expansiveness  by 
the  Greek  forms  of  thought. 

The  Greek  mission  was  thus  evidently  essential  in  the 
preparation  for  Messiah.  It  forced  the  thinking  men 
of  that  age  to  feel  and  confess  the  insufficiency  of  human 
reason,  even  in  its  most  perfect  development,  for  the  de- 
liverance and  perfection  of  mankind,  and  left  them  wait- 
ing and  longing  for  one  who  could  accomplish  this  work. 
It  brought  in  a  dawning  sense  of  human  brotherhood, 
and  so  helped  to  bring  mankind  together  into  the  true 
unity.  It  aided  men  to  cut  loose  from  the  hoary  but 
unreasonable  traditions  of  the  past,  and  thus  prepared 
them  to  receive  the  reasonable  truth  of  God.  It  made 
ready  and  living  the  better  and  broader  forms  of  thought 
and  speech  in  which  the  Gospel  with  its  grander  truths 
—  too  grand  and  living  to  be  put  into  the  narrow  and 
dead  Hebrew  —  should  be  proclaimed  to  all  the  world. 

III.   The  Mission  of  the  Romans. 

Kome  was  already  the  rising  power  of  the  West  when 
Alexander  gave  the  Greek  civilization  to  the  East.  The 
Roman  Empire  was  the  fourth  kingdom  of  the  prophecy 
of  Daniel.  Its  strength  is  represented  by  the  iron  of  the 
great  image,  since  it  was  to  be  "  strong  as  iron ;  "  its 
terrible  character,  by  the  fourth  beast,  which  had  more 
than  the  power  of  the  lion,  more  than  the  greed  of 
the   bear,  and  more   than   the  swiftness  and  insatiable 


,       MISSION   OF   THE   GENTILES.  53 

cruelty  of  the  leopard,  and  to  which  no  name  could  be 
given. ^ 

The  Roman  Problem.  The  Roman  was  to  try  another 
solution  of  the  problem  on  which  the  Oriental  and  the 
Greek  had  failed.  He  was  to  try  whether  human  power, 
taking  the  form  of  law,  regulated  by  political  principles 
of  which  a  regard  for  law  and  justice  was  most  conspic- 
uous, could  perfect  humanity  by  subordinating  the  indi- 
vidual to  the  state  and  making  the  state  universal. 
''  The  power  which  was  destined  at  length  to  raise  a  uni- 
versal empire  on  the  ruins  of  the  Eastern  Monarchies,  of 
the  free  states  of  Greece,  and  of  the  commercial  oligarchy 
of  Carthage,  combined  in  itself  the  strongest  points  of 
the  systems  which  it  superseded,"  ^  —  more  than  the  ma- 
terial power  of  Oriental  despotism  ;  much  of  the  free- 
dom and  intelligence  and  more  than  the  social  order  of 
Greece ;  a  stronger  and  better  aristocracy  than  that  of 
Carthage. 

In  the  old  Roman  race,  the  will,  or  that  part  of  man 
which  pushes  to  action  and  enables  him  to  control  and 
mould  nature  and  mankind,  was  the  predominant  ele- 
ment, associated  with  conscience  or  the  natural  sense  of 
justice.  Its  herculean  tasks  and  its  universal  empire 
furnish  the  highest  expression  of  the  human  soul  as  the 
repository  of  the  energy  for  shaping  the  world  to  law  and 
order.  The  Roman,  as  the  man  of  power,  was  to  attempt 
the  solution  of  the  same  problem  of  perfecting  man  in 
which  the  man  of  prophecy  and  the  man  of  reason  and 
taste  had  already  failed,  and  in  his  failure  was  to  com- 
plete the  preparation  for  the  coming  of  him  who  could 
solve  the  hitherto  insoluble  problem. 

The  TATorld  Romanized.  Before  the  time  of  the  Ad- 
vent, Rome  had  demonstrated  the  powerlessness  of  hu- 

1  Daniel,  ii.  33,  40 ;  vii.  7,  19,  23. 

2  Smith,  History  of  the  World,  vol.  i.  p.  131. 


64  PREPARATION  FOR  MESSIAH. 

man  power  to  save  mankind.  It  liad  done  its  best,  but 
its  best  was  little,  —  practically  nothing.  It  needed  the 
coming  Christ  that  itself  might  be  saved.  Imperialism 
was  as  helpless  as  Orientalism  and  Hellenism. 

But  the  Roman  performed  a  still  more  important  part 
in  preparing  the  world  for  the  Messiah  and  the  spread  of 
the  world-religion.  It  was  Rome  that  cast  up  the  high- 
ways along  which  the  Jews  plied  their  traffic  and  carried 
out  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  the  truth  of  God  and  the 
expectation  of  a  coming  Deliverer.  It  was  Rome  that 
made  the  influence  of  the  divine  religion  free,  rapid,  and 
world  wide. 

But  more  than  all,  Rome  did  for  the  whole  world  that 
law-work  without  which  man  never  feels  the  greatness  of 
his  need  of  the  Gospel.  In  carrying  out  his  mission  of 
power  the  Roman  was,  as  already  hinted,  the  representa- 
tive of  natural  justice  in  the  world.  It  was  doubtless 
some  alleviation  that  the  moulds  into  which  the  Roman 
power  so  ^remorselessly  crushed  men  and  nations  were 
moulds  of  justice ;  yet  in  proportion  as  the  world  was  a 
wicked  world  was  the  justice  a  terrible  justice.  Rome  is 
aptly  described  by  the  prophet  Daniel  as  the  iron  'king- 
dom :  "  The  fourth  kingdom  shall  be  strong  as  iron,  foras- 
much as  iron  breaketh  in  pieces  and  subdueth  all  things, 
and  as  iron  that  breaketh  all  these  shall  it  break  in 
pieces  and  bruise  ;  "  and  again,  as  the  ferocious  beast, 
"  dreadful  and  terrible,  and  strong  exceedingly,  with 
great  iron  teeth,  which  devoured  and  brake  in  pieces,  and 
stamped  the  residue  with  the  feet  of  it."  It  was  justice 
practically  omnipotent  and  omnipresent,  and  so  neither 
to  be  resisted  nor  escaped,  —  justice  which  never  dreamed 
of  mercy  until  the  work  of  conquest  and  consolidation 
was  done.  It  made  men  long  for  mercy,  because  it  dem- 
onstrated to  them  that  there  was  no  hope  for  them  in 
righteous  law. 


MISSION   OF   THE   GENTILES.  55 

The  Total  Result.  So  it  came  about  that  there  was 
going  lip  from  all  the  world  a  wail  for  deliverance  when 
the  divine  Deliverer  appeared. 

Says  Neander  :  "  The  three  great  historical  nations  had 
to  contribute,  each  in  its  own  pecuhar  way,  to  prepare 
the  soil  for  the  planting  of  Christianity,  —  the  Jews  on 
the  side  of  the  religious  element ;  the  Greeks  on  the  side 
of  science  and  art ;  the  Romans,  as  masters  of  the  world, 
on  the  side  of  the  political  element.  When  the  fullness 
of  the  time  was  arrived,  and  Christ  appeared,  —  when 
the  goal  of  history  had  thus  been  reached,  —  then  it  was, 
that  through  him,  and  by  the  power  of  the  spirit  that  pro- 
ceeded from  him,  —  the  might  of  Christianity,  —  all  the 
threads,  hitherto  separated,  of  human  development,  were 
to  be  brought  together  and  interwoven  in  one  web."  ^ 

Regarding  the  subject  from  another  point  of  view,  hu- 
man nature  had  exhausted  itself  in  the  efforts  of  the 
Gentile  world  to  solve  the  problem  of  man's  elevation  and 
salvation.  The  Oriental  had  given  the  freest  rein  to 
human  desires,  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  and 
was  perishing  in  magnificence  and  luxury.  The  Greek 
had  given  fullest  scope  to  reason  and  taste,  in  circum- 
stances equally  favorable,  and  was  perishing  in  the  very 
glory  of  his  creations  of  thought  and  beauty.  The  Ro- 
man had  made  all  the  other  powers  subordinate  to  his  ex- 
ecutive energy,  and  conscience,  with  its  insatiate  justice, 
was  crushing  him,  and  all  the  world  with  him,  even  by 
his  universal  empire.  There  were  no  other  powers  in 
human  nature  to  bring  to  the  task.  The  world  over,  on 
the  great  and  all-absorbing  question  of  man's  salvation, 
the  oracles  of  heathenism  were  dumb. 

It  was  only  as  Judaism  had  wrought  with  heathenism 
and  for  it,  that  hope  remained  for  mankind.  Along  the 
line  of  the  divine  purpose  of  grace,  Jew  and  Gentile  had 

1   Church  History,  vol.  i.  p.  4. 


56  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

wrought  together,  for  the  most  part  unconsciously,  for 
more  than  a  thousand  years,  and  the  final  results  were 
now  to  be  reached. 

When  the  Cagsars  were  firmly  established  on  the  throne 
of  the  Empire,  and  the  three  phases  of  civilization,  in 
Judaism,  Hellenism,  and  Imperialism,  had  in  measure 
blended  and  reached  out  over  the  world  from  Gibraltar 
and  Britain  to  the  shores  of  the  Caspian,  the  Messianic 
expectancy  and  longing  reached  the  highest  intensity.  It 
was  the  fullness  of  times.  Could  the  world  endure  longer 
without  the  coming  of  Christ  ? 


CHAPTER  TI. 

THE  ADVENT  AND  THE  WRITTEN  GOSPELS. 

Jesus  Christ  came  in  "  the  fullness  of  the  time  *' 
(Gal.  iv.  4),  or  at  the  hour  appointed  in  the  divine  plan 
and  prepared  for  by  the  divine  providence,  —  the  hour 
when  everything  was  ready  for  his  coming.  He  pro- 
claimed the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel,  was  rejected  by 
men,  and  finished  his  sacrificial  work  on  the  cross.  In 
due  time,  under  commission  from  him,  his  Apostles  gave 
that  Gospel  to  the  world,  first  in  their  oral  preaching, 
and  then  in  the  permanent  records  known  as  the  four 
Gospels. 

SECTION  I. 
THE   ADVENT   OF   JESUS   CHRIST. 

In  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  is  to  be  found  the  key  to 
the  history  of  the  world.  As  the  ages  before  were  but 
the  preparations  for  his  advent,  and  replete  with  events 
and  prophecies  which  turned  all  eyes  toward  that  advent, 
so  the  ages  since  have  often  been  shown  to  be  but  the  un- 


THE   PKOPHECY.  57 

folding  of  his  true  power  and  glory  in  the  progress  of  his 
kingdom  among  men.  With  the  historical  verity  of  his 
person  and  career,  Christianity  stands  or  falls.  The  per- 
son of  Jesus  Christ  constitutes  Christianity  in  its  highest 
and  truest  sense. ^ 

It  is  natural,  therefore,  in  these  days,  when  radical  in- 
fidelity is  pushing  its  destructive  criticism  to  the  utmost, 
that  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  should  become  the  centre 
of  the  religious  controversies  which  are  agitating  the 
world.2 

To  attempt  a  full  discussion  of  this  whole  subject,  or 
to  give  a  detailed  chronological  exhibition  of  the  life  of 
Christ,  would  obviously  lead  beyond  the  scope  of  the 
present  work.  Nothing  more  can  be  done  than  to  group 
the  main  facts  and  direct  the  attention  of  the  reader  — 
who  wishes  to  consider  the  subject  further — to  some  of 
the  writers  from  whom  he  can  obtain  the  needed  guid- 
ance and  assistance. 

The  Time  of  the  Advent.  Accordins:  to  the  view 
long  held  and  early  indorsed  by  the  Romish  Church, 
Jesus  Christ  was  born  on  Christmas,  at  the  opening  of 
the  Christian  Era,  or  about  754  years  after  the  founding 
of  Rome.  A  more  accurate  historical  knowledge  has 
made  it  evident  that  his  birth  was  rather  four  or  five  years 
earlier,  or  about  750  or  749  after  the  founding  of  Rome, 
and  most  probably  in  the  spring-time.  This  conclusion 
is  based  upon  the  fact  that  Herod  the  Great,  in  whose 
reign  the  birth  of  Christ  took  place,  died  in  the  fourth 
year  before  the  commencement  of  our  era,  shortly  before 
Easter.3 

The  important  facts  connected  with  the  Advent  may 

1  See  Schaff,  The  Person  of  Chri'st,  p.  9. 

'^  See  Tischendorf,  The  Origin  of  the  .Gospels,  p.  23.  Also,  Row,  The  Su- 
pernatural  in  ihe  New  Testament,  pp.  4-8. 

^  See  Matthew  ii.  1  ;  Josephus,  Antiquities,  xvii.  9,  3  ;  Andrews,  Life  of 
our  Lord  ;  Robinson,  Harmony  of  the  Gospels. 


58  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

be  found  in  tlie  opening  chapters  of  the  Gospels.  That 
Christ  came  at  just  the  right  juncture  in  the  unfolding 
of  the  divine  plan  is  the  main  point  for  present  consider- 
ation. 

Lange  has  remarked,  that  the  days  of  Herod  form  the 
centre  of  the  world's  history,  and  that  every  review  of 
the  state  of  the  Jewish  and  heathen  world,  at  the  time 
of  Christ's  birth,  confirms  the  truth  of  the  remark  of 
Paul  to  the  Galatians,  that  he  appeared  when  the  fullness 
of  the  time  was  come.^ 

Many  prophecies  combined  to  fix  upon  just  that  as  the 
time  for  the  appearance  of  the  great  Deliverer; 

Jacob,  in  blessing  his  sons,  declared  that  the  sceptre 
was  not  to  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  to  cease 
from  among  his  descendants,  till  Shiloh  should  come 
(Genesis  xlix.  10).  In  Herod  the  Great,  Judah  still  had 
a  king,  but  perhaps  in  less  than  a  month. after  the  birth 
of  Jesus,  Herod  died,  and  the  kingdom  as  such  came  to 
an  end. 

A  special  period — marked  according  to  the  method 
elsewhere  used  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  of  computing  by 
heptads  (weeks)  of  years  —  was  fixed,  from  the  going 
forth  of  the  command  to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem, 
to  the  cutting  off  of  Messiah  (Dan.  ix.  24-27).  Start- 
ing from  the  time  of  the  issue  of  the  commission  of 
Artaxerxes  to  Ezra  (Ezra  vii.  12-28),  say  about  457  B. 
C,  the  middle  of  the  seventieth  heptad  reached  forward 
486^  years,  to  about  30  years  after  the  opening  of  the 
Christian  Era,  as  the  date  of  the  death  of  Messiah.^ 
The  same  prophecy  fixed  with  great  accuracy  the  dura- 
tion of  Messiah's  public  work  and  the  date  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  Holy  City  by  the  Romans. 

The  time  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ  in  his  public 

1  Lauge,  Commentary  on  Luke,  p.  33. 

2  See  Prldeaux ;  also,  Wordsworth,  Daniel  and  the  Minor  Prophets. 


THE  EXPECTATION.  59 

work  was  also  determined  by  prophecy.  He  was  to 
come,  the  desire  of  all  nations,  to  the  second  temple,  and 
to  impart  to  it  by  his  presence  a  greater  glory  than  that 
of  Solomon's  temple  (Hag.  ii.  7-9 ;  Mai.  iii.  1).  A 
generation  later  than  the  death  of  Jesus  the  temple 
passed  away  and  this  prediction  could  not  have  been  ful- 
filled after  that  date. 

More  definitely  still,  a  herald  was  to  appear  before 
Messiah,  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness,  making  pre- 
jDaration  for  his  coming  (Isa.  xl.  3;  Mai.  iii.;  iv.  5).  A 
few  months  before  the  entrance  of  Jesus  upon  his  pub- 
lic mission,  John  the  Baptist  appeared,  claiming  to  be 
such  a  herald,  and  in  due  time  baptizing  Jesus  and  intro- 
ducing him  to  the  Jewish  nation  as  the  Messiah  (Matt, 
iii. ;  Mark  i.  ;  Luke  iii. ;  John  i.). 

The  Expectation  of  the  'World.  These  are  only 
instances  taken  out  of  that  great  mass  of  prophecy  which 
at  the  time  of  the  Advent,  through  the  temple  and  syn- 
agogue system,  had  brought  the  Jews  into  an  attitude  of 
hourly  expectancy  of  the  Messiah. 

That  there  was  a  like  expectancy,  throughout  the 
heathen  world,  of  some  deliverer  or  ruler  to  come  forth 
from  Judsea,  is  equally  clear.  It  was  tlius  that  the  Magi 
came,  at  the  right  hour,  inquiring  at  Jerusalem  after  the 
new-born  King  of  the  Jews.  Suetonius  relates  that  "  an 
ancient  and  definite  expectation  had  spread  throughout 
the  East,  that  a  ruler  of  the  world  would,  at  about  that 
time,  arise  in  Judgea."  ^  Tacitus  makes  a  similar  state- 
ment.2  Schlegel  mentions  that  the  Buddhist  missiona- 
ries traveling  to  China  met  Chinese  sages  going  to  seek 
the  Messiah  about  33  A.  D.^ 

The  entire  world  was  thus  evidently  in  an  attitude  of 

1  Life  of  Vespasian,  c.  iv. 

2  History,  v.  13. 

8  Philosophy  of  History. 


60  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

expectancy.  The  Oriental  had  despaired  of  his  material 
magnificence,  the  Greek  of  his  reason  and  philosophy, 
and  the  Roman  was  despairing  of  his  universal  empire. 
God  must  interpose  or  the  world  must  perish.^ 

SECTION  II. 

THE  CAREEH    OF   JESUS. 

At  just  the  right  hour  Jesus  Christ  came  and  accom- 
plished his  appointed  task,  in  a  life  of  probably  a  little 
over  thirty-three  years,  about  three  and  a  half  of  which 
were  devoted  to  his  public  ministry.  The  '  attempted 
chronological  arrangement  of  all  the  recorded  facts  of 
his  career  may  be  consulted  in  the  various  Harmonies.^ 

I.    Outline  of  the  Career, 

Without  entering  into  the  minute  details  of  the  har- 
monists, a  fair  working  outline  of  the  life  of  Christ  may 
be  constructed  from  the  chronological  data  furnished 
chiefly  by  John  and  Luke.  John,  as  is  well  known,  nar- 
rates the  whole  period  of  our  Lord's  public  ministry  in 
connection  with  his  journeys  to  Jerusalem  to  keep  the 
different  feasts,  omitting  no  single  passover  occurring 
during  this  period,  but  even  mentioning  the  one  not 
kept  by  him  at  Jerusalem  (John  vi.  4).  He  has  thus 
furnished  the  scheme  of  Christ's  public  ministry.  Luke 
has  not  only  supplied  several  special  dates  of  the  greatest 
importance,^  but  has  in  his  preface  intimated  his  inten- 
tion of  narrating  the  events  of  our  Lord's  life  in  order, 
—  an  order  doubtless  largely  chronological. 

Wieseler's  Outline.  Paying  due  regard  to  these  data 
from  John  and  Luke  ;  admitting  and  emphasizing  the 

1  See  Dollinger. 

2  See  Andrews,  Life  of  Our  Lord ;  Robinson,  Harmony  of  the  Gospels. 
*  Luke  ii.  1 ;  iii.  23  ;  Acts  i.  1,3;  and  particularly  Luke  iii.  1,  2. 


THE    CAREER.  61 

impossibility  of  securing  a  perfect  chronological  arrange- 
ment of  all  the  facts ;  and  avoiding  that  fatal  error 
of  the  harmonists,  of  attempting  to  secure  chronological 
unity  at  the  expense  of  the  individuality  of  the  Gospels, 
—  Wieseler  divides  the  Gospel  History  into  six  Sec- 
tions.^ 

Section  1.  The  history  of  our  Lord's  childhood.  Luke 
i.  5-ii.  52.     Compare  Luke  iii.  23-38.    Matt,  i.,  ii. 

Section  2.  From  the  first  public  appearance  of  John 
the  Baptist,  and  then  of  our  Lord,  to  the  imprisonment 
of  the  Baptist,  and  Christ's  return  to  Galilee,  after  his 
journey  to  the  Feast  of  Purim.  Luke  iii.  1-iv.  13  ; 
Mark  i.  1-13  ;  Matt.  iii.  1-iv.  11 ;  John  i.  19-v.  47. 

Section  3.  From  our  Lord's  return  to  Galilee  to  his 
journey  to  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  Luke  iv.  14-ix. 
50 ;  Mark  i.  14-ix.  50 ;  Matt.  iv.  12-xviii.  35 ;  John  vi. 
1-vii.  1. 

Section  4.  From  our  Lord's  journey  to  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  to  his  last  regal  entry  into  Jerusalem.  Luke 
iv.  51-xix.  28  ;  Mark  x.  1-52 ;  Matt.  xix.  1-xx.  34 ; 
John  vii.  2-xii.  11. 

Section  5.  From  our  Lord's  regal  entry  into  Jerusalem 
to  the  day  of  his  crucifixion  and  burial.  Luke  xix.  29- 
xxiii.  6b;  Mark  xi.  1-15,  47;  Matt.  xxi.  1-xxvii.  61; 
John  xii.  12-xix.  42. 

Section  6.  From  our  Lord's  burial  to  his  ascension. 
Luke  xxiii.  56-xxiv.  53  ;  Acts  i.  1-11 ;  Mark  xvi.  1-20 ; 
Matt,  xxvii.  62-xxviii.  20  ;  John  xx.  1-xxi.  25. 

Simplified  Outline.  It  will  be  observed  at  a  glance 
that  Section  2  takes  in  our  Lord's  early  ministry  in 
Judaea  ;  Section  3,  his  public  ministry  in  Galilee  ;  and 
Section  4,  his  ministry  in  Persea,  after  he  Avas  driven 
from  his  public  ministry  in  Judaea  and  Galilee  by  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Jews.     This  suggests,  as  more  easily  remem- 

1  See  Wieseler,  Chronological  Synopsis  of  the  Four  Gospels,  p.  24. 


62  ADVENT   OF   MESSIAH. 

bered,  the  following  statement  of  the  divisions  given  by 
Wieseler :  — 

Section  1.  The  childhood  and  youth.  Thirty  years 
from  4  B.  c.  to  26  A.  D. 

Section  2.  The  inauguration  and  ministry  in  Judaea. 
About  one  year,  from  26-27  A.  D. 

Section  3.  The  public  ministry  in  Galilee.  About  two 
years,  from  27-29  A.  D. 

Section  4.  The  public  ministry  in  Persea  —  beyond 
Jordan.  About  six  months,  from  October,  29  A.  D.,  to 
Api-il,  30  A.  D. 

Section  5.  The  atonement  by  death.  About  one  week, 
April  2d  to  8th,  30  A.  D. 

Section  6.  The  burial,  resurrection,  and  ascension. 
About  forty  days,  from  April  9th  to  about  May  18th, 
30  A.  D. 

II.  The  Historical  Reality  of  the  Career, 

It  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  "  the  life  of  Jesus 
is  the  most  momentous  of  all  questions  which  the  Church 
has  to  encounter,  —  the  one  which  is  decisive  whether  it 
shall  or  shall  not  live."  ^  If  his  life  be  not  a  reality,  then 
even  the  morality  which  is  based  upon  the  Gospels  has  its 
root  in  immorality,  —  in  a  lie.  What  then  of  the  histor- 
ical reality? 

The  direct  knowledge  of  the  life  of  Jesus  is  derived  al- 
most exclusively  from  the  four  Gospels.  The  other  writ- 
ings of  the  New  Testament,  however,  furnish  some  addi- 
tional facts. 

After  these  comes  the  indirect  knowledge  from  writings 
based  upon  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  whether  by  the  advo- 
cates or  the  opposers  of  the  Christian  system,  and  which 
attest  the  facts  of  Christ's  life,  because  these  writings 
must  have  originated  in  the  facts. 

1  See  Tischendorf,  Origin  of  the  Four  Gospels,  p.  24. 


THE   CAREEK.  63 

Finally,  in  two  classical  writers,  Tacitus  and  Pliny,  we 
possess  incidental  expressions  which  have  a  lasting  inter- 
est. The  former  testifies  that  Christ,  the  founder  of  the 
religion  which  had  gained  so  strong  a  hold  even  in  Nero's 
time,  had  been  punished  with  death,  by  the  procurator 
Pontius  Pilate,  during  the  reign  of  Tiberius.^  The  latter 
asserts,  in  a  communication  to  Trajan,  that  the  Chris- 
tians, already  a  numerous  body  in  Bithynia,  were  in  the 
habit  of  singing  songs  of  praise  to  Christ  as  God.^ 

It  is  therefore  easy  to  see  why  the  Gospels  are  the 
main  point  of  attack  in  the  present  age.  They  are  the 
chief  direct  witnesses  to  the  historical  reality  of  the  life 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

Whether  judged  by  the  plain  principles  of  common 
sense  or  by  the  formal  canons  of  a  scientific  criticism,  the 
argument  for  the  historical  verity  of  the  life  of  Christ,  as 
that  life  is  presented  in  the  Gospels,  is  of  overwhelming 
force.  It  will  only  be  proper,  in  this  connection,  to  ad- 
vert to  some  of  its  forms,  chiefly  in  order  to  direct  atten- 
tion to  some  of  those  works  accessible  on  the  subject 
which  may  be  consulted  with  profit. 

From  Common  Sense.  From  the  point  of  view  of 
common  sense,  the  history  of  the  world,  both  before  and 
since  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  is  a  Sphinx's  rid- 
dle, if  the  historical  truth  of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  be  de- 
nied. How  was  it  that  all  the  ages  before  reached  out  in 
type  and  prophecy  and  human  longing  and  development 
toward  the  man  of  Nazareth,  and  found  their  fulfillment 
and  completion  only  in  him  ?  How  is  it  that  all  the  ages 
since  have  been  but  the  logical  unfolding  from  the  life  of 
that  central  figure  of  human  history  ?  How  could  a  myth 
— an  impostor,  a  cheat,  a  lie  —  give  to  man  all  his  highest 
blessings,  and  all  his  grandest  civilization,  and  inspire  all 

1  Tacitus,  Amxal.  xv.  44. 

2  Pliny,  Epist.  x.  97.     See  Tischendorf,  Origin,  etc.  p.  2.5. 


64  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

his  noblest  purposes  and  acliievements  ?  The  historical 
verity  of  the  Christ-life  in  the  Gospels  is  the  only  suffi- 
cient reason  for  the  movements  of  the  ancient  ages,  the 
only  adequate  cause  for  the  developments  of  the  modern 
ages  and  the  Christian  anticipations  of  the  future  ages. 

In  the  view  of  common  sense,  a  mythical  Christ  and 
no  Christ  at  all  are  equally  fatal  to  the  rationalistic  hy- 
potheses. 

1st.  On  the  supposition  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  never 
actually  existed,  it  is  not  within  the  range  of  rational  be- 
lief that  the  idea  of  such  a  being  was  formed  in  that 
country,  in  that  age,  and  in  the  minds  of  such  men  as  the 
Evangelists  are  held  to  have  been,  and  as  in  point  of  men- 
tal endowment  and  culture  and  social  rank  they  certainly 
were.  When  it  shall  have  been  fully  ascertained  what 
that  being  wdio  is  presented  to  us  in  the  Gospels  really 
was,  the  evidence  will  be  irresistible  -that  this  is  not 
Avithin  the  range  of  rational  belief,  btit  is  so  unlikely  and 
unnatural  as  to  be  morally  impossible.  It  would  contra- 
dict all  experience  and  all  legitimate  induction  from  ex- 
perience, and  be  as  utterly  out  of  the  course  of  human 
things  as  any  miracle  ever  recorded.^  The  men  of  that 
age  never  could  have  conceived  the  life  of  Jesus  unless 
they  had  first  witnessed  it ;  never  could  have  conceived 
his  sublime  doctrine  unless  they  had  first  heard  it. 

2d.  On  the  supposition  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  did  act- 
ually exist,  and  that  the  statements  made  by  the  Gos- 
pels concerning  the  facts  of  his  humanity  are  on  the  whole 
what  the  writers  saw  and  heard,  then  the  facts  concern- 
ing his  divinity  must  likewise  be  true,  and  the  entire 
record  of  the  Gospels  must  be  true. 

It  has  been  shown  by  various  able  writers,  in  pursuing 
this  line  of  argument,  that  the  life  of  Jesus  stands  out  a 
mysterious  exception  to  all  the  laws  which  ordinarily 
govern  the  destiny  of  men. 

1  See  Youug,  Christ  of  History,  p.  24. 


THE   CAREER.  65 

The  outer  conditions  of  that  life  were  most  unfavor- 
able. He  was  born  in  poverty,  among  the  lowly  and 
ignorant,  wrought  for  most  of  his  life  as  a  carpenter,  re- 
ceived no  formal  education,  had  only  the  companionship 
of  peasants  and  fishermen,  and  no  acquaintance  with  the 
great  and  wise,  received  no  patronage  of  any  kind  from 
any  one. 

His  public  life  was  the  briefest,  —  only  a  little  over 
three  years  and  this  friendless  young  peasant  of  Galilee 
came  to  his  death  of  shame  by  the  cross.  Even  in  that 
brief  course  he  used  no  ordinary  weapons  or  machinery 
or  plans,  but  only  the  simple  utterance  of  great  spiritual 
truths  which  men  hated,  and  the  setting  at  work  of 
invisible  spiritual  forces  at  which  men  scoffed.  The 
moral  condition  of  the  age  and  place  in  which  he  ap- 
peared was  eminently  unfavorable.  It  was  an  age  of 
awful  corruption,  as  witnesses  Paul,  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  in  his  description  of  the  state  of  the  Gentile 
world,  and  as  also  witness  the  heathen  historians  of  that 
age.  The  land  of  the  chosen  race,  with  its  greater  light, 
was  the  centre  of  moral  perversity  ;  Galilee  was  disrepu- 
table even  in  that ;  and  Nazareth  was  the  focus  of  intel- 
lectual as  well  as  of  moral  darkness.  There  was  notliing 
in  those  thirty  years  in  that  centre  of  darkness  to  develop 
such  character,  life,  and  doctrine  as  those  of  the  Jesus 
of  the  Gospels.  A  righteous  man  could  ask  with  pious 
horror,  "  Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  " 

Yet  out  of  Nazareth  came  forth  Jesus,  of  his  own  free 
will,  claiming  to  be  the  Messiah,  yet  wearing  a  form 
wholly  different  from  that  of  the  Messiah  expected  by  his 
age,  and  possessed  with  an  idea  wholly  original  and 
totally  different  from  that  of  his  age,  —  he  came  forth 
to  save  not  from  earthly  subjection  but  from  shi,  and  to 
save  not  Judaea  only,  but  all  the  lost  world. 

Just  as  evidently  unique  was  he  in  his  spiritual  indi- 

5 


66  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

yiduality,  —  in  his  constant  and  conscious  communion 
"with  God ;  in  Ms  consciousness  of  sinlessness,  of  divinity 
and  of  the  grandest  of  missions  ;  in  the  universality,  com- 
jDleteness,  and  unapproachable  greatness  of  his  manhood, 
attained  and  manifested  by  him  without  apparent  cause 
and  without  conscious  effort ;  in  the  entire  unselfishness 
and  boundless  self-sacrifice  of  his  life  and  in  the  sublime 
devotion  of  it  to  God  and  humanity ;  in  his  faith  in  God 
and  truth  and  in  his  calm  assurance  of  the  triumph  of 
his  kingdom  on  earth.  In  all  these  he  was  absolutely 
alone  among  men. 

In  the  centre  of  darkness  he  began  a  unique  work 
with  the  revelation  to  men  of  their  moral  condition  and 
with  the  call  to  repentance,  and  there  he  gathered  the 
disciples  who  in  his  name  should  conquer  the  world. 
Mingling  a  terrible  severity  with  a  divine  tenderness, 
and  uniting  the  severest  simplicity  with  the  most  abso- 
lute authority,  he  dealt  with  the  corrupt  age,  sparing  no 
wickedness,  overlooking  no  sorrow,  teaching  in  a  form 
and  clearness  unattained  by  any  other  teacher  the  three 
great  doctrines  which  are  announced  in  the  Gospels,  — 
the  doctrine  of  the  soul,  the  doctrine  of  God,  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  reconciliation  of  the  soul  and  God  by  his 
sacrificial  death  alone. 

Such  a  character,  personality,  work,  in  such  outer 
conditions,  are  simply  impossible,  except  upon  the  sup- 
position of  the  Deity  of  Jesus  Christ.  They  forbid  — 
even  if  the  supernatural  elements  are  left  out  of  sight  — 
his  classification  with  men  as  a  mere  man.  The  simple 
facts  of  his  humanity,  once  admitted,  irresistibly  bear 
with  them  the  undoubted  truth  of  his  Godhead.^  The 
historical  verit}^  of  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  cannot  be 
denied  without  abjuring  common  sense. 

1  See  Young,  Christ  of  History.  Also,  Bushnell,  Nature  and  the  Super- 
natural, ch.  X.,  "  The  Character  of  Jesus  forbids  his  possible  Classifica- 
tion with  Men." 


THE   CAREER.  67 

Frora  Scientific  Criticism.  It  has  been  sliown  to 
be  equally  beyond  tlie  range  of  rational  belief  that  the 
Apostles  did  their  preaching  and  wrought  the  mightiest 
revolution  of  all  ages  without  the  actual  existence  and 
career  of  Jesus  as  presented  in  the  Gospels.  Without 
the  verity  of  the  history  no  adequate  and  rational  motive 
for  their  conduct  can  possibly  be  pointed  out. 

"  There  never  was  such  a  being  as  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth! "  Whence  then  this  mightiest  movement  of  time, 
which  is  seen  in  the  origin,  development,  and  world-wide 
sway  of  Christianity  ? 

"  He  was  but  a  miserable  deceiver,  at  the  best,  himself 
deluded  while  misleading  others  !  "  How  then  this  world 
of  light  out  of  such  utter  darkness  ?  Who  can  believe 
that  all  the  best  blessings  of  the  world  could  come  from 
such  a  source  ?     Is  a  lie  more  beneficent  than  the  truth  ? 

"  The  disciples  were  convinced  that  he  was  a  failure, 
but  they  stole  away  his  dead  body  and  devoted  them- 
selves heart  and  soul  to  keeping  up  the  work  of  decep- 
tion which  he  had  begun !  "  Can  a  sane  man  believe 
that  ?  Do  men  naturally  act  from  such  motives  ?  Would 
they  keep  up  such  a  course,  with  no  whisper  of  dissent 
or  exposure  of  the  base  secret,  through  fire  and  blood, 
along  all  ages,  until  the  world  is  converted  to  their  lie  ? 
Imagine  the  poor  fishermen  and  peasants,  in  deadly  fear 
and  in  despair,  stealing  away  that  lifeless  body  of  Jesus 
for  such  a  purpose  ! 

The  conclusion  of  scientific  criticism  is  in  accordance 
with  that  of  common  sense,  —  that  the  Gospels  are  ver- 
itable history.  Such  criticism  in  its  only  proper  form  is 
simply  the  best  rational  application  of  common-sense 
principles. 

The  evidence  bearing  upon  the  genuineness  and  au- 
thenticity of  the  Gospels  has  been  often  and  admirably 
presented  by  the  scientific  defenders  of  Christianity. 


68  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

Tischendorf  has  exhibited  in  a  simple  and  interesting, 
though  not  eminently  systematic,  manner,  for  the  Chris- 
tian public  at  large,  and  with  a  knowledge  of  the  an- 
cient authorities  nnequaled  by  any  of  his  opponents,  the 
main  facts  and  arguments  in  favor  of  the  Gospel  claims.^ 

Professor  Fisher  has  set  forth,  in  his  clear  and  compact 
style,  for  the  more  cultivated  Christian  public,  a  broad 
and  complete  view  of  the  subject,  in  which  he  has  not 
only  established  the  claims  of  the  Gospels  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  scientific  historical  criticism,  but  has  also  stated 
and  refuted  successively  the  various  false  hypotheses  of 
the  rationalists,  —  including  those  of  Baur,  Strauss,  and 
Renan,  and  that  of  their  chief  American  imitator,  Theo- 
dore Parker.2 

But  perhaps  the  freshest,  ablest,  and  most  complete 
presentation  of  the  latest  aspects  of  this  whole  question 
may  be  found  in  "  The  Supernatural  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment Possible,  Credible,  and  Historical,"  by  Rev.  C.  A. 
Row,  prepared  and  published  at  the  request  of  the  lead- 
ing British  Society  devoted  to  the  work  of  keeping  the 
subject  of  Christian  Evidences  before  the  public.  The 
author  was  invited  to  undertake  this  important  work, 
because  in  his  previous  publication  he  had  shown  him- 
self peculiarly  qualified  to  meet  and  answer  the  later 
skeptical  writers  on  their  own  ground.^ 

What  with  the  common-sense  and  the  scientific  criti- 
cism, the  Christian  may  confidently  conclude  that  there 
is  nothing  in  the  ancient  history  of  the  world  more  cer- 
tain than  —  nay,  nothing  so  certain  as  —  the  facts  of  the 
career  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  probabilities  in  favor  of 
the  view  that  Jesus  Christ  was  born,  lived,  suffered, 
died,  and  rose  from  the  dead,  as  the  Gospels  represent, 

1  See  The  Origin  of  the  Gospels. 

2  See  Essays  on  the  Supernatural  Origin  of  Christianity. 
*  See  Kow,  The  Jesus  of  the  Evangelists. 


PREACHING   OF   THE   APOSTLES.  69 

are  overwhelmingly  great,  as  against  either  the  hypoth- 
esis of  a  mythical  Christ  or  of  no  Christ  at  all.  The 
Gospels  are  veritable  history,  or  else  no  such  thing  as 
veritable  history  can  be  shown  to  have  come  down  to  us 
from  the  ancient  times. 

The  deliverer  came  forth  from  Judaga,  as  the  world 
expected,  and  by  his  life  and  death  prepared  the  forces 
which  were  to  renovate  the  race.  How  out  of  the 
shame  and  death  with  which  his  career  ended  could  the 
longed-for  life  and  glory  arise  ? 

SECTION  III. 
THE  PREACHING   OF   THE  APOSTLES. 

There  are  two  sources  of  information  concerning  the 
apostolic  work :  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  the  facts  and 
traditions  preserved  by  the  early  Christian  writers. 

I.   Facts  from  the  Scriptures. 

The  Apostolic  History,  as  given  by  the  sacred  writ- 
ers, may  be  subdivided  into  two  parts  :  a  connected 
narrative,  extending  from  our  Lord's  ascension  to  the 
second  year  of  Paul's  captivity  at  Rome,  embodied  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  and  a  body  of  detached  and 
incidental  statements,  scattered  throughout  the  other 
books  of  the  New  Testament. 

Of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  Dr.  J.  Addison  Alex- 
ander has  said,  that  the  subject  is  "  a  special  history  of 
the  planting  and  extension  of  the  Church  among  the 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  by  the  gradual  establishment  of  ra- 
diating centres  or  sources  of  influence  at  certain  salient 
points  throughout  a  large  part  of  the  empire,  beginning 
at  Jerusalem  and  ending  at  Rome."  ^ 

The  two  central  figures  in   the   Acts  are  Peter  and 

1  Alexander,  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  vol.  i.,  Introduction. 


70  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

Paul,  —  the  former  in  the  first  twelve  chapters  and  the 
latter  in  the  last  sixteen.  Yet  the  book  is  as  far  as  pos- 
sible from  being  a  biography  of  these  two  men,  either  as 
individuals  or  as  Apostles.  The  subject  of  the  first  part 
is  not  Peter,  but  the  planting  and  extension  of  the 
Church  among  the  Jews  by  the  ministry  of  the  Apostles, 
among  whom  Peter  appears  as  a  leader,  often  associated 
with  the  whole  body,  but  sometimes  especially  with 
John.  The  subject  of  the  second  part  is  not  Paul,  but 
the  planting  and  extension  of  the  Church  among  the  Gen- 
tiles b}^  the  ministry  of  Paul. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  present  work,  it  will 
appear  that  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  furnishes  a  glimpse 
—  an  outline  sketch  —  of  the  work  of  the  Apostles  in 
fulfilling  the  commission  and  giving  the  Gospel  to  the 
world.  It  describes  its  promulgation  among  those  repre- 
senting the  three  great  world-wide  phase's  of  thought,  — 
at  Jerusalem,  the  centre  of  Jewish  religion  and  influence 
in  the  early  Church  ;  at  Antioch,  the  centre  of  Greek 
thought  and  influence ;  and  at  Rome,  the  centre  of  Ro- 
man power  and  influence.  Along  these  three  lines  of 
apostolic  effort,  as  will  subsequently  appear,  the  first 
three  Gospels  had  their  origin. 

The  book  begins  too  late  to  take  in  the  work  done  for 
the  Jews  during  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  recorded  in  the 
Gospels  ;  and  it  ends  before  the  later  and  more  extended 
spiritual  influence  of  John's  work  in  Asia  Minor  and 
throughout  the  Church.  Nevertheless,  all  the  men  con- 
nected with  the  four  Gospels  engage  in  its  work,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  one,  are  prominent  in  it ;  Matthew, 
as  one  of  the  Twelve,  at  the  opening  of  the  history ; 
Peter  and  Mark,  and  Paul  and  Luke,  as  the  chief  actors 
in  the  early  progress  of  the  Christian  movement ;  and 
John,  as  singled  out  from  the  rest  at  the  outset. 

From  the  remaining  portions   of   the  Sacred   Script- 


PREACHING  OF  THE  APOSTLES.  71 

ures — the  Epistles  and  the  Apocalypse  —  a  body  of 
detached  and  incidental  statements  is  derived,  which  may 
be  used  to  supplement  and  complete  the  account  given  in 
the  Acts.  Among  other  things,  glimpses  are  given  of  the 
movements  of  Peter  and  John  among  the  Gentiles,  by 
which,  after  their  work  recorded  in  the  Acts,  they  ex- 
tended their  influence  over  the  Roman  world  ;  and  it  is 
suggested  that  Paul  was  probably  released  from  prison  at 
Rome,  to  push  his  mission  work  still  farther  among  the 
heathen,  and  to  be  again  at  a  later  date  placed  in  bonds 
to  suffer  martyrdom. 

It  is  manifest  to  the  careful  reader  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  that  the  same  temple  and  synagogue  sys- 
tem which  had  so  long  connected  Jerusalem  with  all  the 
world,  and  by  means  of  which  the  universal  expectancy 
of  a  coming  deliverer  had  been  awakened,  was  one  chief 
agency  employed  by  the  followers  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
in  disseminating  his  doctrine. 

The  early  work  centred  in  Jerusalem,  and  especially 
in  the  temple  itself,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  first  five 
chapters  of  the  Acts,  which  end  with  the  declaration  that, 
"  daily  in  the  temple,  and  in  every  house,  they  ceased 
not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ."  The  influences, 
however,  reached  out  almost  immediately  to  the  syna- 
gogues of  the  foreign  Jews  and  Judaized  foreigners.  The 
sixth  and  seventh  chapters  of  the  Acts  give  a  glimpse  of 
the  work  in  one  of  these  synagogues,  so  numerous  in  the 
Holy  City.  In  it  the  proto-martyr  Stephen  discusses  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel  with  the  representatives  of  Europe, 
Asia,  and  ^feca. 

In  thei^work  abroad  over  the  world  the  Apostles  and 
other  early  preachers  found  the  synagogues  the  great  cen- 
tres for  influencing  men,  and  the  new  faith  was  pro- 
claimed in  these  throughout  the  Roman  Empire  in  an 
incredibly  short  space  of  time.     When  Saul  went  on  his 


72  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

journey  of  persecution  to  Damascus,  it  was  with  letters 
to  the  synagogues ;  and  when  he  was  converted  he 
straightway  preached  Christ  in  the  synagogues  (Acts  ix. 
2,  20).  It  was  in  the  synagogues  that  the  way  was  pre- 
pared for  reaching  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  —  as  in  the 
preaching  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  at  Antioch  in  Pisidia 
(Acts  xiii.  14,  42)  ;  at  Iconium  (Acts  xiv.  1)  ;  and  at 
other  places. 

In  the  providence  of  God  the  same  great  system  of  in- 
tercourse which  had  been  the  means  of  preparing  the 
world  for  the  Advent  became  a  most  important  agency 
in  giving  that  world  the  Gospel. 

11.  Facts  from  Tradition. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  the  work  of  the  majority 
of  the  Apostles  in  spreading  the  Gospels  throughout  the 
world  is  not  exhibited  in  the  sacred  writings.  What  is 
known  of  it  is  learned  chiefly  from  the  early  ecclesiasti- 
cal writers,  —  as  Nicephorus,  Tertullian,  Eusebius,  and 
others. 

It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  pick  out  the  precise  histori- 
cal facts  from  the  mass  of  statements,  yet  the  current 
traditions,  generally  received  at  the  time,  doubtless  had 
a  basis  of  historic  fact,  and  are  worthy  of  some  degree 
of  credence.  It  is  made  clear  that  such  were  the  zeal 
and  success  of  the  Apostles,  that  at  the  close  of  the  first 
century  Christianity  had  been  preached  and  embraced 
throughout  and  even  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  Roman 
empire. 

It  is  said  that  Andrew  carried  the  Gospel  through 
Scythia  and  the  neighboring  countries,  and  then  over 
into  eastern  Europe  ;  and  that  he  at  last  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom on  the  cross  at  Patra^a,  a  city  of  Acliaia. 

James,  the  brother  of  John,  is  said  to  have  preached 
to  the  dispersed  Jews  in   Judaea,   Samaria,  and  Spain, 


PREACHING  OF  THE  APOSTLES.  73 

and  to  have  settled  at  last  in  Jerusalem,  where  the  Acts 
assure  us  he  was  beheaded  by  Herod  (xii.  2). 

Philip,  after  preaching  successfully  for  several  years  in 
upper  Asia,  went  to  Hierapolis,  the  centre  of  idolatry  in 
Phrj^gia  in  Asia  Minor,  and  perished  by  martyrdom  in 
the  attempt  to  overthrow  that  idolatry. 

Bartholomew,  or  Nathanael,  preached  abroad  as  far  as 
Hither  India  ;  then  returned  westward  and  labored  with 
Philip  in  Hierapolis  in  the  overthrow  of  idolatry ;  and, 
barely  escaping  martyrdom  there,  bore  the  message  of  his 
Master  up  to  Albania,  on  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea, 
where  he  won  the  martyr's  crown. 

Simon,  the  Canaanite  or  Zealot,  is  said  to  have 
preached  the  Gospel  in  Egypt,  Cyrene,  Africa,  and 
finally  in  Britain,  where  he  was  put  to  death  on  the 
cross. 

Jude  first  preached  in  Syria  and  afterward  throughout 
Judaea,  Galilee,  Samaria,  Idumea  and  Arabia,  Syria, 
Mesopotamia  and  Persia,  and  at  last  fell  a  martyr 
through  the  zeal  of  the  Magi  in  the  defense  of  the  old 
Oriental  faith. 

Matthias,  who  took  the  place  of  Judas,  first  preached 
with  great  success  in  Juda9a,  and  afterward  in  Ethiopia, 
where  he  was  stoned  and  beheaded. 

Tradition  adds  to  the  statements  of  the  Scriptures 
much  that  is  interesting  and  important  concerning  the 
lives  of  the  men  whose  names  are  immediately  connected 
with  the  Gospels.  This  will  properly  be  brought  for- 
ward in  treating  of  the  authorship  of  the  Gospels.^ 

It  is  obvious  from  the  Scriptures  and  tradition  com- 
bined, that  before  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age  the 
Great  Commission  had  already  met  its  fulfillment,  in 
spirit  at  least.  This  brought  the  crisis  of  that  age,  fore- 
told by  Christ  in  his  last  days.     The  Church,  a  spiritual 

1  See  Kitto,  History  of  the  Bible. 


74  ADVENT   OF   MESSIAH. 

kingdom,  had  now  been  firmly  established  the  world 
over.  The  time  had  come  when  men  could  everywhere 
worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  There  was, 
therefore,  no  longer  need  of  the  great  religious  centre  at 
Jerusalem  and  of  the  temple  and  synagogue  system. 
Apostate  Judaism  had  become  only  an  influence  for  evil, 
everywhere  interfering  with  the  progress  of  the  Gospel. 
The  proclamation  of  the  crucified  Christ  seems  quickly 
to  have  sifted  the  false  and  the  true ;  and  then  the  re- 
jecters of  the  new  doctrine,  still  holding  possession  of  the 
synagogues,  became  the  agents  of  bloody  persecutions. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  Stephen  met  with  his  death  and 
that  the  first  persecution  arose  (Acts  vii.,  viii.).  It  was 
the  apostate  Jews  in  the  synagogue  at  Damascus  who 
sought  to  slay  Saul  of  Tarsus  (Acts  ix.  22) ;  and  the 
Hellenistic  Jews  at  the  synagogue  at  Jerusalem  who 
afterward  attempted  the  same  thing  (Acts  ix.  29). 

It  was  largely  out  of  the  foreign  element  connected 
with  the  synagogues  that  the  Church  was  gathered,  while 
most  of  the  Jews  rejected  the  claim  of  Jesus  to  be  the 
Christ,  and  organized  persecution  against  the  Christians  ; 
as  was  the  case  at  Thessalonica  (Acts  xvii.  1-9).  The 
synagogue  at  Berea  is  instanced  as  a  marked  exception 
to  this  general  rule  (Acts  xvii.  10-12) ;  but  the  Jews 
of  Thessalonica,  by  their  emissaries,  extended  the  perse- 
cution even  to  Berea,  and  drove  Paul  out  of  it  (Acts 
xvii.  13-15). 

This  inference  from  the  Acts  is  confirmed  by  Justin 
Martyr,  who  affirms  that  ''  converts,  in  greater  numbers 
and  of  more  genuine  character,  proceeded  from  the  body 
of  the  pagans,  than  from  the  great  mass  of  the  Jews."  ^ 
It  is  still  further  manifest  from  the  writings  of  Justin, 
that  the  more  thoroughly  Judaized  this  pagan  element 

1  See  Justin  Martyr,  Apolog.  1.  2,  f.  88.  Neauder,  Church  History,  vol. 
i.  p.  63. 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   WRITTEN   GOSPELS.  75 

had  become,  the  more  hopeless  was  the  task  of  preaching 
the  Gospel  to  it.  Of  the  proselytes  in  the  strict  sense, 
he  says  to  the  Jews,  that  they  *'  do  not  simply  not  be- 
lieve, but  they  blaspheme  the  name  of  Christ  twofold 
more  than  yourselves,  —  and  they  would  murder  and  tor- 
ture us,  who  do  believe  on  him ;  for  they  strive  in  every 
respect  to  become  like  you."  ^  It  was  from  proselytes  of 
the  gate,  or  those  who  had  adopted  from  the  Jewish  sys- 
tem the  principles  of  theism  and  the  hope  of  Messiah, 
without  becoming  wholly  Jews,  that  the  mass  of  con- 
verts to  the  Church  came. 

When  these  converts  had  been  gathered  into  the 
Church,  —  the  few  Jews  and  the  many  pagans,  —  the 
work  of  temple  and  synagogue  as  a  connected  and  world- 
wide system  was  done.  They  could  henceforward  be  a 
source  of  only  evil  to  the  world-religion,  —  a  source  of 
terror  in  that  age  only  less  dreadful  than  Jesuitism  with 
the  Inquisition  in  a  later  age.  The  destruction  of  the 
temple  by  Titus,  in  70  A.  D.,  and  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  destroyed  at  once  the  centre  and  the 
power  of  the  old  system,  and  brought  the  Christian 
Church  into  its  true  place  of  prominence  and  influence. 

Thenceforward  there  were  four  distinct  classes  of  rep- 
resentative men,  and  four  definite  and  different  phases 
of  thought,  recognized  in  the  ancient  world,  —  Jewish, 
Greek,  Roman,  and  Christian. 

SECTION  IV. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF   THE  WRITTEN  GOSPELS. 

While  the  great  work  of  the   Apostles  and  their  co- 
laborers  was  still  going  forward  in   the  full  tide  of  its 
energy,   the  chief   business  was    that    of    preaching   the 
doctrine  of  Christ's  life,  crucifixion,  and  resurrection  for 
1  See  Neander,  Church  History,  vol.  i.  p.  67. 


76  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

the  salvation  of  the  world.  In  the  early  stages  there  was 
little  need  of  written  records,  for  there  were  the  living 
and  divinely  inspired  witnesses. 

But  as  the  work  widened  there  came,  in  the  various 
local  churches,  emergencies  requiring  special  instruction 
on  the  varied  topics  of  the  Gospel  as  related  to  Chris- 
tian life.  Before  the  Apostles  passed  off  the  stage  of  ac- 
tion there  arose  the  necessity  for  a  permanent  record  of 
the  story  of  the  Gospel  as  they  had  proclaimed  it  to 
men.  Hence  were  given  to  the  Church  the  Epistles  and 
the  Apocalypse,  and  the  four  Gospels.  The  origin  of 
the  latter  alqne  requires  to  be  considered  in  this  connec- 
tion. 

I.    Theory  of  the  Origin, 

In  a  true  theory  of  their  origin  is  found  the  explana- 
tion of  the  number  of  the  Gospels,  their  peculiarities, 
their  agreements  and  differences.  Such  a  theory  must 
evidently  be  based  upon  and  constructed  out  of  the  facts 
of  the  age  and  work  of  the  Apostles.^  It  must  run 
somewhat  as  follows  :  — 

The  Gospel  for  the  World.  The  aim  of  the  Great 
Commission  and  the  common  design  of  the  four  Gospels 
were  to  commend  Jesus  the  Nazarene  to  all  mankind  as 
the  great  Deliverer  from  sin  and  its  evil  consequences. 
"  Go  preach  my  Gospel  to  every  creature." 

The  Races  of  the  World.  As  has  been  seen,  there 
were  three  great  races  and  three  great  phases  of  thought 
reaching  throughout  that  world  with  which  Christianity 
first  came  into  contact,  —  the  Jewish,  the  Roman,  and 
the  Greek.  There  was  in  addition  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
the  Church,  constituted  of  those  brought  out  of  the  three 
races  of  men  and  made  spiritual  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel. 

1  See  Westcott,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Gospels,  ch.  iii.,  for  a  clear 
and  valuable  discussion  of  the  origin  of  the  Gospels. 


ORIGIN   OF  THE   WRITTEN   GOSPELS.  77 

The  Preaching  to  the  World.  The  Apostles  went 
forth  preaching  the  Gospel  like  common-sense  men,  pre- 
senting Jesus  to  each  of  the  three  great  races  or  classes 
of  mankind  in  the  way  best  suited  to  the  end  in  view, 
of  leading  those  races  to  submit  to  him  as  the  divine 
Saviour.  The  same  presentation  would  not  equally  com- 
mend him  to  all  the  races.  Each  of  them  had  its  pecul- 
iarities which  must  be  taken  into  account ;  each  of  them 
its  side  to  be  reached ;  each  of  them  its  own  character- 
istic view  of  the  evils  of  the  world  and  of  the  qualities 
of  the  needed  deliverer,  of  which,  so  far  as  it  was  right, 
the  Gospel  must  take  advantage.  Those  early  preachers 
took  wise  account  of  all  this,  and  preached  to  tlie  Jew, 
to  the  Roman,  and  to  the  Greek,  —  from  the  three  great 
centres,  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  and  Rome,  as  set  forth  in 
the  Acts,  —  in  a  form  suited  to  their  needs. 

After  the  Church  had  been  founded  and  enlarged  by 
converts  made  in  all  lands  by  the  preaching  of  the  mis- 
sionary Gospel  in  its  varied  adaptation  to  the  races,  that 
Gospel  which  presents  Christ  as  the  light  and  life,  for 
the  purpose  of  leading  men,  already  Christians,  to  higher 
attainments  in  the  Christian  life,  became  necessary  and 
was  preached  throughout  the  world. 

The  Permanent  Records  for  the  "World.  But  the 
Apostles  could  not  be  everywhere  and  always  with  men. 
Before  they  passed  away  there  arose  the  desire  in  the  va- 
rious races  of  men,  who  had  heard  their  Gospel,  to  have 
it  embodied  in  permanent  written  form,  that  it  might 
preach  to  them  still  when  the  early  preachers  were  ab- 
sent or  dead. 

This  desire  expressed  itself  among  the  Jews,  and  Mat- 
thew, by  divine  inspiration,  gave  them  his  Gospel  to  meet 
that  desire.  It  was  the  Gospel  which  his  long  preaching 
to  the  Jews,  the  men  of  prophecy,  had  already  thrown 
into  the  form  best  suited  to  commend  to  their  accept- 
ance Jesus  as  the  Messiah. 


78  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

The  same  desire  expressed  itself  among  the  Romans, 
and  Mark  by  divine  inspiration  gave  them  his  Gospel  to 
meet  that  desire.  It  was  the  Gospel  which  Peter,  by  his 
preaching  to  the  Romans,  the  men  of  power,  had  already 
thrown  into  the  form  best  suited  to  commend  to  their 
acceptance  Jesus  as  the  almighty  deliverer  of  men. 

The  same  desire  expressed  itself  among  the  Greeks, 
and  Luke  by  divine  inspiration  gave  them  his  Gospel  to 
meet  that  desire.  It  had  its  basis  in  the  Gospel  which 
Paul  and  Luke  by  their  long  preaching  to  the  Greeks, 
the  men  of  reason  and  universal  humanity,  had  already 
thrown  into  the  form  best  suited  to  commend  to  their 
acceptance  Jesus  as  the  perfect,  divine  man. 

All  these,  the  missionary  Gospels,  were  given  their 
final  shape  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  probably  be- 
tween 50  and  70  A.  D. 

It  was  later  that  the  longing  came,  in  the  Church,  for 
a  spiritual  Gospel,  which  should  help  the  Christian  to 
develop,  strengthen,  and  perfect  the  life  already  begun, 
and  John  by  divine  inspiration  gave  his  Gospel  to  meet 
that  longing.  It  was  the  Gospel  the  materials  for  which 
he  had  gathered  in  the  more  intimate  communion  with 
his  Master,  and  which,  by  his  long  preaching  to  the 
brethren,  he  had  thrown  into  the  form  best  suited  to  com- 
mend to  the  faith  of  Christians  Jesus  as  the  light  and 
life  of  all  who  believe. 

II.  Historic  Basis  and  Adequacy  of  the   Tlieory. 

Basis.  That  this  is  not  a  mere  groundless  hypothesis 
may  readily  be  made  to  appear.  It  has  a  stable  basis  of 
fact. 

That  the  aim  of  the  Great  Commission  was  to  give 
the  Gospel  to  all  the  world,  appears  upon  its  very  face. 
The  Gospel  was  to  be  preached  to  every  creature. 

That  there  were  three   great  races  and  three  corre- 


ORIGIN   OF   THE  WRITTEN    GOSPELS.  79 

spending  phases  of  thought  throughout  the  world  has  al- 
ready been  shown  in  treating  of  the  preparation  for  the 
Advent. 

That  the  Apostles  went  forth  presenting  the  Gospel 
to  these  various  classes  of  men  in  the  way  best  suited  to 
the  nature  of  each,  and  with  the  view  of  winning  them 
to  Christ  as  the  Saviour,  has  been  seen  in  considering  the 
preaching  of  the  Apostles. 

That  the  four  Gospels  actually  originated  in  the  man- 
ner stated  will  be  shown  in  the  subsequent  chapters  in 
treating  of  the  origin  of  each  of  the  Gospels. 

Adequacy.  If  this  be  the  true  theory,  it  may  read- 
ily be  seen  that  it  will  furnish  a  most  perfect  and  satis- 
factory explanation  of  the  number  and  character  of  the 
Gospels,  and  of  their  otherwise  unexplained  agreements 
and  differences.  This  will  appear  best  in  the  course  of 
the  subsequent  discussions,  but  a  brief  statement  of  some 
few  points  will  help  to  make  those  discussions  more  in- 
telligible. 

1st.  There  are  four  Gospels,  because  Jesus  was  to  be 
commended  to  four  races  or  classes  of  men,  or  to  four 
phases  of  human  thought,  —  the  Jewish,  Roman,  Greek, 
and  Christian.  Had  not  these  exhausted  the  classes  to 
be  reached  there  would  doubtless  have  been  more  Gos- 
pels ;  and  had  there  not  been  so  many  classes,  with  es- 
sential differences  in  temperament  and  modes  of  thought, 
there  would  doubtless  have  been  less.  The  world  of  that 
age  must  have  been  revolutionized  and  the  nature  of  the 
races  materially  changed  to  admit  of  either  more  or  less. 

2dly.  The  very  striking  differences  seen  in  the  three 
missionary  Gospels,  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke,  and  be- 
tween these  three  and  the  Christian  Gospel,  John,  are 
fully  explained.  While  the  resemblances  of  the  three 
Synoptics  originated  in  the  common  facts  of  the  charac- 
ter and  career  of  Christ,  which   all  the  Apostles  went 


80  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

forth  to  preach,  the  differences  originated  in  the  adapta- 
tion of  each  by  a  different  Apostle  to  a  different  class  of 
men,  —  of  Matthew  to  the  Jew,  of  Mark  to  the  Roman, 
and  of  Luke  to  the  Greek.  The  fact  that  the  first  three 
Gospels  were  missionary  Gospels,  originally  preached  to 
unspiritual  men  with  the  view  of  bringing  them  to  the 
faith  in  Christ  and  to  the  Christian  life,  accounts  for 
their  so  marked  variation  from  John,  the  Christian  Gos- 
pel, originally  preached  to  spiritual  men  already  brought 
to  faith  in  Christ  and  into  membership  in  the  true 
Church  by  the  Gospel  in  its  first  three  forms,  and 
preached  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  them  in  making  prog- 
ress in  the  divine  life.  The  impossibility  of  only  one 
Gospel,  the  absurdity  of  four  Gospels  of  precisely  simi- 
lar character,  the  insufficiency  of  the  three  missionary 
Gospels,  and  the  completeness  of  the  four  Gospels  as 
they  are,  all  appear  manifest  from  this  point  of  view. 

3dly.  The  force  of  the  great  mass  of  alleged  discrep- 
ancies, as  objections  to  the  historical  character  of  the 
Gospels,  is  utterly  broken  by  the  simple  consideration  — 
essential  to  the  theory  and  based  upon  undoubted  facts  — 
that  the  productions  of  the  Evangelists  are  not  histories, 
but  memoirs  in  a  modified  sense  ;  in  short,  not  at  all 
biographical  sketches  of  Christ,  but  records  of  the  Apos- 
tles' practical  preaching  of  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  men.^ 

The  justness  of  this  consideration  is  manifest,  as  has 
been  shown  by  Mr.  Row,  from  the  statements  of  their 
object  by  the  Evangelists  themselves.  The  Gospels 
most  distinctly  affirm  that  they  do  not  belong  to  the  class 
of  professed  histories,  but  to  that  of  memoirs.  "  They 
not  only  affirm  that  they  are  memoirs,  but  memoirs  of 
a  peculiar  character,  that  is  to  say,  religious  memoirs, 
composed  with  a  double  purpose,  namely,  that  of  setting 

1  See  Eow,  The  Supernatural,  etc.  p.  475 ;  and  Westcott,  Introduction, 
etc.  ch.  iii. 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   WRITTEN   GOSPELS.  81 

forth  the  events  of  a  life  and  at  the  same  time  of  teach- 
ing a  religion." 

Matthew's  object  appears  in  the  opening  line  of  his 
book,  —  to  bring  the  Jew  to  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Mes- 
siah. Mark  opens  with  "  the  beginning  of  the  gladsome 
message  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God."  Luke  writes 
for  the  special  and  immediate  purpose  of  communicating 
systematic  instruction  concerning  the  Gospel  facts  to 
Theophilus.  John  more  distinctly  declares  that  he  has 
selected  his  materials  out  of  a  large  mass  and  written 
them  for  a  definite  religious  purpose  :  "  Many  signs 
truly  did  Jesus  in  the  presence  of  his  disciples,  which  are 
not  written  in  this  book,  but  these  are  written  that  ye 
may  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and 
that  believing  ye  may  have  life  through  his  name " 
(John  XX.  30,  31). 

Even  more  definitely  is  the  character  of  the  Gospels 
presented  in  the  traditions  of  their  origin,  not  as  his- 
tories but  as  records  of  the  Apostolic  preaching,  —  as  will 
be  seen  in  the  subsequent  chapters. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  it  was  no  part  of  the  design 
of  the  writers  to  secure  that  chronological  accuracy  of 
arrangement  and  of  detail  which  is  "  essential  to  history, 
but  which  forms  no  portion  of  the  plan  of  a  memoir."  ^ 
It  is  absurd  to  demand  it  of  them.  They  nowhere  pro- 
pose to  give  it.  It  would  have  prevented  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  great  object ;  since  religion  and  not  chro- 
nology, conversion  of  men  to  Christ  and  not  the  writing 
of  history,  was  the  chief  thing.  In  preaching  to  the  va- 
rious classes  of  mankind,  those  facts  and  truths  were 
brought  forward  which  suited  the  practical  end  in  view, 
and  they  were  put  in  that  order  which  seemed  best  fitted 
to  secure  the  one  great  result,  the  acceptance  of  Jesus  as 
the  Saviour.  Where  the  order  of  time  suited  the  preach- 
1  See  Row,  The  Supernatural,  etc. 


82  ADVENT   OF  MESSIAH. 

er's  purpose,  it  was  freely  followed,  and  it  was  as  freely- 
departed  from  where  it  did  not  suit  that  purpose. 

In  short,  chronology  is  of  comparatively  little  impor- 
tance in  the  Gospel  view  of  the  life  of  Christ,  —  of  so 
little,  indeed,  that  from  John  onl}^  can  be  learned  the  ex- 
tent and  the  successive  periods  of  the  public  ministry  of 
the  Saviour.  A  rigid  adherence  to  the  order  of  time  and 
a  complete  biography  of  Jesus  would  have  been  the  worst 
of  faults,  a  fatal  fault,  since  by  eliminating  their  practi- 
cal features,  it  would  have  unfitted  the  Gospels  for 
reaching  the  various  classes  of  mankind. 

The  same  point  of  view  makes  clear  the  object  of  the 
Evangelists  in  devoting  so  much  space  to  the  narration  of 
the  events  connected  with  the  death  of  Jesus.  The  cross 
is  the  capital  fact  of  Christianity  as  a  religion,  the  one 
upon  which  salvation  and  eternal  life  depend.  Hence 
Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  give  one  third  of  their  Gos- 
pels to  it,  while  John  gives  it  one  half  of  his. 

4thly.  The  theory  presented  explains  the  fitness  of 
the  Gospels  for  the  world  in  all  ages.  Those  classes  were 
representative  classes  for  all  time.  There  are  the  same 
needs  among  men  to-day,  —  one  man  needing,  for  con- 
viction of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  to  hear  an  authori- 
tative word  of  God  in  type  or  prophecy,  in  the  Script- 
ures, and  to  be  assured  of  its  fulfillment  as  proclaiming 
the  divine  mission  of  Jesus  ;  a  second  needing  to  see  him 
as  the  divine  power  in  his  living  activity,  confirming  his 
own  claims  ;  a  third  requiring  a  manifestation  of  God 
addressed  to  reason,  through  the  perfect  manhood  of  Je- 
sus ;  a  fourth  demanding  only  the  spiritual  presence  and 
teachings  of  Jesus  to  recognize  in  him  the  light  and  life. 
The  Gospels  appeal  respectively  to  the  instincts  which 
lead  men  to  bow  to  divine  authority,  power,  perfection, 
and  spirituality,  and  may  thus  be  shown  to  exhaust  the 
sides  of  man's  nature  from  which  he  may  best  be  reached 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   WRITTEN   GOSPELS.  83 

and  led  to  submission  to  the  Saviour,  and  to  complete- 
ness in  him.  The  four  Gospels  given  to  men  in  the 
apostolic  times  are  therefore  the  complete  Gospel  of  God 
for  the  world  in  all  ages. 

III.    Object  of  the  Present  Work. 

The  object  of  the  present  work  is  to  verify  this  theory, 
while  using  it  in  the  elucidation  of  the  meaning  of  the 
four  Gospels. 

The  Aim.  The  attempt  will  be  made  to  show  that 
all  the  Gospels,  both  in  their  general  drift  and  in  their 
special  peculiarities,  fall  in  with  and  confirm  the  theory 
which  has  been  outlined,  while  the  theory  itself  explains 
or  renders  significant  much  in  the  structure  and  matter 
of  the  Gospels  that  is  otherwise  inexplicable  or  without 
significance. 

The  subordinate  part  which  the  chronological  order  of 
events  plays  in  the  work  of  the  Evangelists  will  be  seen 
in  the  prosecution  of  this  work.  It  w^ll  appear  that 
there  is  a  higher  law  of  unity  and  arrangement  than 
mere  succession  in  time.  Out  of  the  vast  array  of  facts 
and  events  which  were  crowded  into  the  life  of  Jesus, 
the  Holy  Ghost  leads  each  writer  to  select  those  which 
will  best  serve  the  special  purpose  of  each ;  and  to  ar- 
range them  in  accordance  with  his  own  design,  now  fol- 
lowing the  order  of  time  and  now  departing  from  it. 
No  one  of  them  attempts  a  complete  life  of  Christ  after 
the  pattern  of  the  biographers.  All  of  them  together 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  furnish  the  materials  for  such  a 
hfe. 

The  Method.  It  will  manifestly  be  necessary  to  con- 
sider in  connection  with  each  Gospel  such  questions  as 
the  following :  — 

What  was  the  actual  origin  of  this  Gospel,  and  for 
whom  was  it  especially  designed  ? 


84  ADVENT   OF   MESSIAH. 

What  was  the  character  and  what  were  the  needs  of 
those  for  whom  it  was  written  ? 

How  far  does  this  Gospel  itself  agree  with  the  answers 
to  these  questions,  in  its  authorship,  its  point  of  view,  its 
material,  and  its  entire  scope  ? 

No  one  capable  of  duly  weighing  them  will  consider 
these  inquiries  unimportant.  How  important  will  best 
appear  when  they  have  been  answered. 


PAET  II. 


MATTHEW,  THE   GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

"  One  God,  one  law,  one  element, 
And  one  far-oflF  divine  event, 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves." 

Alfred  Tennyson. 

"  The  book  of  the  generation  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  son  of  David,  the  son 
of  Abraham."  Matthew  i.  1. 

"Primus  omnium  Matthaeus  est  Publicanus,  cognomento  Levi,  qui 
Evangelium  in  Judaea  Hebraeo  sermone  edidit,  ob  eorum  vel  maxime 
causam,  qui  in  Jesum  crediderant  ex  Judasis,  et  nequaquam  Legis  um- 
bram,  succedente  Evangelii  veritate,  servabant."  Jekome. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HISTORICAL  VIEW   OF  THE  JEWISH  ADAPTATION  OF 
THE   FIRST  GOSPEL. 

The  investigation  of  the  Gospels  for  present  purposes 
is  either  historical  or  critical.  The  former  includes  the 
inquiries  into  their  actual  historical  origin  and  design, 
into  the  character  of  the  class  for  whom  they  were  in- 
tended, and  into  their  authorship.  The  latter  embraces 
the  inquiries  into  their  actual  contents,  and  into  their 
general  and  special  adaptation  to  the  classes  for  which 
they  were  prepared. 


MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR  THE  JEW. 


SECTION  I. 
ORIGIN  AND   DESIGN   OF  THE  FIRST  GOSPEL. 

Two  questions  need  to  be  answered,  in  accordance 
with  the  facts  of  history,  if  possible,  before  any  complete 
and  critical  knowledge  of  the  structure  and  drift  of  the 
Gospel  can  be  attained.  These  questions  are :  What 
was  the  actual  origin  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Mat- 
thew ?  For  what  class  of  readers  was  it  primarily  de- 
signed ? 

I.  Imagined  Origin. 

The  so-called  scientific  criticism,  in  the  hands  of  the 
rationalist,  has  lost  both  its  science  and  its  criticism.  It 
lias  exhausted  the  power  of  an  ungoverned  and  ungov- 
ernable imagination  in  the  attempt  to  account  for  the 
origin  and  form  of  the  Gospels,  while  it  has  not  given 
the  least  attention  to  the  plain  facts  of  history  touching 
the  points  in  question. 

One  has  imagined  an  original  Hebrew  or  Aramasan 
Gospel  out  of  which  the  four  were  afterwards  compiled 
in  the  most  bungling  and  mechanical  manner.  By  turns 
Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  have  each  been  made  to  play 
the  part  of  a  fundamental  Greek  Gospel,  on  the  basis  of 
which  the  remaining  ones  have  been  constructed.  Some 
have  fancied  that  there  was  one  primitive  Gospel,  and 
that  the  separate  or  remaining  Gospels  grew  out  of 
lesser  evangelical  essays  representing  single  incidents  in 
the  life  of  Christ,  or  out  of  memoirs  of  Christ  current  in 
the  early  Church.  Still  others  have  assumed  that  the 
Gospels  are  the  productions  of  the  Evangelists  whose 
names  they  bear,  who  do  not  however  give  plain  histor- 
ical facts,  but  "  whose  minds  are  said  to  have  expressed 
in  nave  fiction  the  consciousness  of  the  Church." 

A  first  fatal   objection  to  all  such  hypotheses  is,  that 


ORIGIN  AND   DESIGN.  87 

they  are  pure  imagination,  with  just  as  considerable  a 
basis  of  fact  as  "  Baron  Munchausen  "  or  the  "  Arabian 
Nights."  A  second,  and  equally  fatal,  is  that  they  do 
not  in  the  slightest  measure  account  for  the  free  and 
beautiful  originality  and  the  wonderful  and  sustained 
unity  found  in  each  and  all  the  Gospels.  As  a  conse- 
quence of  their  utter  baselessness  and  inadequacy,  and 
at  the  same  time  furnishing  a  further  proof  of  their  fal- 
sity, these  innumerable  hypotheses  have  all  alike  failed 
to  command  the  general  assent  of  even  the  unbelieving 
world,  while  the  most  able  and  brilliant  of  them  all  have 
ultimately,  and  often  speedily,  failed  to  secure  the  abid- 
ing faith  of  their  own  authors,  and  have  fallen  into 
merited  contempt  and  oblivion. 

II.  Actual  Origin  and  Design. 

The  question  to  be  asked  by  the  seeker  for  truth  is 
not,  What  possible  origins  of  the  Gospels  can  be  con- 
ceived ?  but  rather,  What  was  their  actual  origin  ?  Con- 
cerning the  first  Gospel  the  question  is,  What,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  history,  was  the  origin,  and  what  the  design,  of 
the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew. 

It  must  be  manifest  to  any  one  of  average  common 
sense,  that  even  second-rate  tradition  on  this  point,  if 
no  better  can  be  obtained,  is  infinitely  more  valuable  than 
the  best  conclusions  of  the  uncertain  rationalistic  imag- 
ination. Of  what  use,  then,  the  imagination,  if  the  real 
historical  origin  of  the  Gospels  can  be  clearly  estab- 
lished ? 

Now  the  fact  is  that  the  investigator  is  not  left  to 
uncertain  tradition,  much  less  to  pure  conjecture,  for  it 
can  be  conclusively  shown  that  Matthew  wrote  his  Gos- 
pel for  the  Jewish  race,  the  first  of  the  three  great  rep- 
resentative races  of  which  the  civilized  world  of  his  day 
was  made  up. 


88  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

Most  Ancient  Witness.  The  most  ancient  direct  tes- 
timony concerning  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew  is 
that  of  Papias.  Papias  was  bishop  of  Hierapolis,  in 
Asia  Minor,  a  city  which,  according  to  the  tradition  al- 
ready given,  was  evangelized  by  Philip  and  Bartholo- 
mew. 

The  testimony  of  Papias  possibly  reaches  back  to  the 
end  of  the  first  century,  certainly  to  the  beginning  of  the 
second.  Eusebius  names  him  among  the  famous  bishops 
of  his  age,  makes  him  contemporary  with  Justus  of  Jeru- 
salem and  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
second  century ;  and  speaks  of  him  as  "  a  man  in  the 
highest  degree  eloquent  and  learned  and  above  all  skilled 
in  the  Scriptures."  ^  Irenseus  writes,  that  he  was  said 
to  be  the  disciple  or  hearer  of  John  and  the  associate  of 
Polycarp,  who  was  bishop  of  Smyrna  at  the  opening  of 
the  second  century .^  That  he  refers  ta  John  the  Pres- 
byter (or  elder),  the  disciple  of  the  Apostles,  and  not  to 
John  the  Apostle,  is  evident  from  the  statement  of  Pa- 
pias himself,  as  quoted  by  Eusebius,  in  which  he  confesses 
that  he  heard  the  words  of  the  Apostles  from  those  who 
were  their  followers,  especially  from  Aristion  and  John 
the  Presbyter.3 

The  testimony  of  Papias  was  originally  given  in  the 
fourth  book  of  a  work  in  five  books,  which  he  called, 
"  Interpretations  of  our  Lord's  Declarations."  From 
this  work,  —  now  no  longer  extant,  but  which  still  ex- 
isted in  the  time  of  Eusebius,  in  the  fourth  century,  — 
the  early  church  historians  have  made  copious  extracts.* 

In  the  preface  to  his  work  Papias  makes  known  his 
object  and  method,  declaring  that  he  not  only  recorded 

1  Hist.  Ecclee.  lib.  iii.  36. 

2  Idem,  lib.  iii.  39. 
8  Idem. 

*  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  iii,  39.  Iren.  Against  Heresies,  book  v.  ch. 
xxxiii.  4. 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  89 

what  he  found  in  written  form,  but  also  made  special 
effort  to  gather  up  such  unwritten  tradition  as  could  be 
traced  back  to  the  Apostles.  "Nor  shall  I  regret,"  said 
he,  "  to  subjoin  to  my  Interpretations,  also  for  your  ben- 
efit, whatever  I  have  at  any  time  accurately  ascertained 
from  the  Elders  and  treasured  up  in  my  memory,  in 
order  to  give  additional  confirmation  to  the  truth  by  my 
testimony.  For,  as  it  seems  to  me,  I  have  never  (like 
many)  delighted  to  hear  those  who  make  a  great  show 
of  words,  but  those  who  teach  the  truth,  nor  those  who 
relate  new  and  strange  precepts,  but  those  who  give  the 
commands  of  the  Lord  and  things  which  came  from  the 
truth  itself.  Whenever,  therefore,  I  met  with  any  one 
who  had  been  on  intimate  terms  with  the  Elders,  I  used 
to  make  special  inquiries  touching  what  were  the  utter- 
ances of  the  Elders,  —  what  Andrew,  or  Peter,  or  Philip, 
or  Thomas,  or  James,  or  John,  or  Matthew,  or  any  other 
disciple  of  the  Lord,  or  what  Aristion  and  John  the 
Presbyter,  also  disciples,  said.  For  I  believed  that  the 
books  would  not  be  of  so  much  profit  to  me,  as  the  living 
word  of  men  still  surviving."  ^ 

In  the  course  of  his  work,  in  a  passage  preserved  by 
Eusebius,  Papias  recorded  what  he  was  able  to  learn  in 
this  way  respecting  the  origin  of  the  Gospels.  His  tes- 
timony concerning  the  first  Gospel  is,  that  "  Matthew 
wrote  the  Oracles  (of  the  Lord)  in  the  Hebrew  tongue, 
and  every  one  interpreted  them  as  he  was  able."  ^ 

The  circumstances  connected  with  this  testimony  are 
given  thus  in  detail,  in  order  that  the  full  value  of  it 
may  be  seen.  It  is  true  that  Eusebius  elsewhere  speaks 
of  Papias  as  a  man  of  inferior  judgment ;  ^  but  it  is  also 

1  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  iii.  39. 

2  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  iii.  39.  See  Fisher,  Supernatural  Origin  of 
Christianity,   p.  160. 

2  Idem. 


90  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL  FOR   THE  JEW. 

true  that  this  was  chiefly  on  account  of  the  millenarian 
yiews  of  the  latter,  which  were  so  offensive  to  the  church 
historian.  The  latter  opinion  is  therefore  of  little 
weight  in  comparison  with  the  former  high  estimate  al- 
ready quoted.  Papias  was  evidently  a  good  man,  and 
Professor  Fisher  has  rightly  said,  that  "  however  moder- 
ate his  intellectual  powers,  he  was  justly  regarded  as  an 
honest  witness  or  reporter  of  what  he  had  seen  and 
heard.  He  reports  what  he  had  received  from  compan- 
ions of  the  Apostles."  It  is  likewise  well  to  remember 
that  the  testimony  of  a  man  of  narrow  intellect  may,  in 
such  circumstances,  be  even  better  than  that  of  a  greater 
man  whose  view  of  facts  is  warped  by  adherence  to  some 
favorite  theory.  Judged  by  his  purpose,  method,  and 
opportunities,  no  better  witness  need  be  cited  than 
Papias. 

The  statement  of  Papias  is  then  that  of  a  competent 
witness,  made  after  devoting  himself  intelligently  and 
diligently  to  the  work  of  ascertaining  the  facts  in  ques- 
tion. He  made  his  investigations  less  than  a  generation 
after  the  writing  of  the  Gospels,  or  after  an  interval  less 
than  our  present  remove  from  the  first  Napoleon  or  even 
from  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  He  had  the  best  of  op- 
portunities, for  Polycarp,  whose  associate  he  was,  had 
been  the  disciple  and  friend  of  John,  and  knew  more 
about  that  Apostle  than  did  any  one  else  in  that  age,  and 
more,  doubtless,  than  any  of  the  contemporaries  of  even 
Napoleon  or  Wellington  knew  of  them.  Such  testimony 
can  only  be  made  to  appear  worthless  by  that  destructive 
criticism  which  would  sweep  away  all  the  facts  of  history 
and  make  Homer,  Shakespeare,  Napoleon,  and  Jesus  all 
myths  alike. 

Later  Testimony.  But  Papias  is  not  alone  in  his  tes- 
timony. Some  of  the  ablest  of  the  leaders  of  the  early 
Church  agree  with  him. 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  91 

Iren^eus  —  the  pupil  of  the  same  Polycarp,  and  who 
was  bishop  of  Lyons  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  second 
centur}^  —  affirms,  that  "  Matthew  issued  a  written  Gos- 
pel among  the  Hebrews  in  their  own  dialect,  while  Peter 
and  Paul  were  preaching  at  Rome,  and  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  the  Church."  ^  His  position  in  the  Church 
and  his  wide  acquaintance  with  it  made  him  a  most  credi- 
ble and  competent  witness.  Still  more  explicitly  ;  "  The 
Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  was  written  for  the  Jews,  who 
specially  desired  that  it  should  be  shown  that  the  Christ 
was  of  the  seed  of  David ;  and  St.  Matthew  endeavors 
to  satisfy  this  desire,  and  therefore  commences  his  Gos- 
pel with  the  genealogy  of  Christ."  ^ 

Origen  (disciple  of  Clement  of  Alexandria)  —  a  man 
of  extraordinary  learning  and  of  extensive  travel,  who 
was  known  throughout  the  entire  Church  during  the  first 
half  of  the  third  century  —  also  declares,  that  "  St.  Mat- 
thew wrote  for  the  Hebrew,  who  expected  the  Messiah 
from  the  seed  of  Abraham  and  David."  ^ 

Eusebius,  bishop  of  Caesarea,  —  a  historian  of  great 
celebrit}^  whose  veracity  has  never  been  questioned  by 
any  one  except  the  infidel  Gibbon,  and  who  flourished 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  third  century  and  earlier 
part  of  the  fourth,  — besides  preserving  the  testimon}^  of 
Papias,  as  already  cited,  gives  the  following  definite 
statement  of  the  facts  concerning  the  origin  of  the  first 
Gospel :  "  Matthew  having  in  the  first  instance  delivered 
his  Gospel  to  his  countrymen  in  their  own  language,  af- 
terward, when  he  was  about  to  leave  them  and  extend 
his  apostolic  mission  elsewhere,  filled  up,  or  completed, 
his  written  Gospel  for  the  use  of  those  whom  he  was 
leaving  behind,  as  a  compensation  for  his  absence."  *     It 

1  Irenaeus,  Against  Heresies,  book  iii.  i.  1. 

2  Caten.  in  Matt.  Massuet,  p.  347 ;  Against  Heresies,  iii.  9,  1. 
^  Origen,  In  Joann.  torn.  i.  6. 

*  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  iii.  24. 


92  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

is  doubtless  true  that  of  all  the  men  of  his  da}^  Eusebms 
was  the  best  acquainted  with  the  historical  records  and 
the  traditions  of  the  Church. 

Jerome  —  "  the  most  learned  of  the  Latin  Fathers  of 
the  Church,"  who  lived  still  later  —  says;  "  The  Church, 
which   according  to  the  word  of  Christ  is  built  upon  a 

rock,  has   four  evangelical  rivers   of   Paradise 

First  of  all  is  Matthew  the  publican,  called  Levi,  who 
composed  a  Gospel  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  for  the  special 
use  of  those  Jews  who  had  believed  in  Christ,  and  no 
longer  followed  the  shadow  of  the  Law,  after  the  reve- 
lation of  the  substance  of  the  Gospel."  ^ 

Gregory  Nazianzen  also  affirms  that  Matthew  wrote 
for  the  Hebrew.2 

But  there  is  scarcely  need  of  further  presentation  of 
testimony  on  a  subject  upon  which  there  was  one  harmo- 
nious tradition. 

Pertinent  Facts.  While  many  points  suggest  them- 
selves as  worthy  of  discussion,  only  the  main  facts  touch- 
ing the  origin  and  design  of  the  first  Gospel  are  related 
directly  to  the  present  investigation.  These  facts  are  : 
that  Matthew  wrote  the  Gospel  for  his  Jewish  country- 
men ;  that  it  was  the  embodiment  of  the  oral  Gospel 
which  he  had  preached  to  them  ;  that  it  was  intended  to 
give  that  preaching  permanent  form  for  their  benefit ; 
and  that  it  took  advantage  of  the  Jewish  Messianic  be- 
liefs and  was  in  this  way  fitted  to  commend  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah  to  the  Jews. 

There  is  still  another  point  that  should  be  noticed,  which 
bears  indirectly  upon  the  theory  of  the  Jewish  origin 
of  Matthew  and  is  confirmatory  of  it,  but  which  is  not 
essential  to  that  theory.  Patristic  authority,  represented 
in  and  by  the  witnesses  already  cited,  is  almost  unan- 

1  Hieron.  Comment,  in  Evang.  Matt.  Prolegom.  3,  4. 
^  Carmin.  lib.  i.  sect.  i.  12,  vers.  31. 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  93 

imous  in  asserting  a  Hebrew  original  of  the  first  Gospel. 
The  treatment  which  this  testimony  has  often  received 
at  the  hands  of  the  critics  illustrates  well  the  ease  with 
which  a  rash  and  dogmatic  criticism  can  dispose  of  the 
plainest  facts  of  history. 

The  testimony  of  these  witnesses  —  the  very  men 
upon  whom  largely  depend  the  establishment  of  the 
canon  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  settlement  of  the  great 
questions  of  primitive  church  history  —  is  declared  to  be 
false,  because  if  there  had  been  a  Hehreiv  original  of  the 
first  Grospel  it  would  have  been  preserved.  How  utterly 
unwarranted  the  assumption  may  be  made  apparent  by 
a  fair  presentation  of  the  case. 

These  men  of  the  highest  character,  and  with  the  best 
opportunities  for  knowing  the  facts,  declare  it  to  be  a  fact, 
that  Matthew  first  wrote  his  Gospel  in  the  Hebrew. 
There  is  entire  agreement  in  the  matter,  since  no  one 
in  that  age  contradicts  the  statement.  Aside  from  its 
being  contrary  to  their  acknowledged  character  to  utter 
falsehood,  they  had  in  this  case  no  conceivable  motive 
for  it. 

Moreover,  in  the  view  of  common  sense  it  seems  em- 
inently natural  and  appropriate  that  Matthew  should  ad- 
dress the  Gospel  to  his  countrymen  in  the  Hebrew.  It 
was  at  once  their  sacred  language  and,  in  modified  form, 
their  vernacular  tongue  ;  and  one  of  the  best  methods  of 
allaying  prejudices  and  conciliating  them,  would  be  to 
make  use  of  it.  Paul  used  the  Hebrew,  and  with  marked 
effect,  for  this  very  purpose,  when,  standing  on  the  stairs 
of  the  castle  above  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  he  addressed 
the  Jewish  mob  below :  "  He  spake  unto  them  in  the 
Hebrew  tongue,  ....  and  when  they  heard  that  he 
spake  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  to  them,  they  kept  the  more 
silence"  (Acts  xxi.  40-xxii.  2).  That  Mattliew,  a  na- 
tive of  Judaea,  should  address  the  native  Jews  in  the  He- 
brew was,  of  course,  still  more  natural  and  appropriate. 


94  MATTHEW,    THE    GOSPEL    FOR   THE   JEW. 

But  the  entire  question  of  fact  is  set  at  rest  by  the 
best  of  direct  testimony  from  those  w^ho  saw  the  Gospel 
in  its  Hebrew  form.  Jerome,  the  most  skilled  of  all 
the  Fathers  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  and  who  lived  in  Pal- 
estine, declares  that  he  himself  saw  the  Hebrew  Gospel, 
and  had  an  opportunity  of  transcribing  and  translating 
it.i  Epiphanius,  one  of  the  most  learned  among  the 
Fathers  of  the  Eastern  Church,  gives  similar  testimony.^ 

The  disappearance  of  the  Hebrew  form  of  the  Gospel 
is  easily  accounted  for  by  a  state  of  things  peculiar  to 
that  age.  Few  of  the  early  Christian  writers  were  famil- 
iar with  that  language.  They  were  accustomed  to  go  to 
the  Septuagint  or  Greek  version  for  their  knowledge  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  they  therefore  naturally  turned 
to  the  Greek  form  in  which  Matthew's  Gospel  existed, 
and  which  was  confessedly  of  divine  authority.  It  is 
moreover  true,  as  is  affirmed  by  early  Christian  writers, 
that  "  the  Hebrew  Gospel  of  Matthew  was  used,  and 
alone  adopted  of  all  the  Gospels,  by  certain  heretical  sec- 
tions of  the  ancient  Church,  the  Ebionites,  and  the  Naz- 
arenes ;  and  was  mutilated  and  interpolated  b}^  them."  ^ 
This  abuse  of  it  naturally  led  the  early  Christians  to 
neglect  and  avoid  it ;  while  it  also  explains  the  fact  that 
the  authors  of  the  Peschito,  or  Syriac  version  of  the  Gos- 
pels, translated  the  Greek  Gospel  of  Matthew,  instead  of 
reproducing  or  modifying  the  apostolic  original  in  He- 
brew. 

Or,  if  these  causes  were  not  sufficient  to  account  for  its 
disappearance,  the  great  historic  event  of  the  age  is  cer- 
tainly sufficient.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  swept 
away  the  centre  of  Hebrew  civilization,  brought  to  an 

1  Hieron.  de  Vir.  III.  c.  3  ;  Contra  Pelagianos,  lib.  iii.,  etc. 

2  Epiphan.  Hceres.  xxx.  de  Ebionitis. 

3  See  references  to  Epiphanius,  Jerome,  etc.,  in  Wordsworth,  Greek  Tes- 
tament, Introduction  to  St.  Matthew's  Gospel. 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  9o 

end  the  knowledge,  among  the  scattered  Jewish  masses, 
of  even  the  modified  or  Aramsean  form  of  the  language 
which  had  survived  the  wreck  of  the  Babylonish  captivity, 
and  consigned  to  ultimate  destruction  most  of  the  He- 
brew literature  save  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  The 
Jewish  historian  Josephus  furnishes  an  illustration  of  the 
fate  of  the  Hebrew  original  of  Matthew.'  Josephus  him- 
self informs  us  that  he  "  wrote  his  great  work,  the  His- 
tory of  the  Jewish  Wars,  originally  in  Hebrew,  his  na- 
tive tongue,  for  the  benefit  of  his  own  nation  ;  and  he 
afterwards  translated  it  into  Greek.  No  notices  of  the 
original  Hebrew  now  survive  :  it  has  perished  ;  but  the 
Greek  version  is  often  referred  to  by  the  early  Christian 
Fathers,  and  is  now  extant.'*  ^  Is  it  any  wonder,  then, 
that  the  Hebrew  original  of  the  first  Gospel,  with  the 
strong  prejudices  existing  in  the  Church  against  its  use, 
soon  perished  ?  ^ 

As  already  said,  the  theory  of  the  present  work  does 
not  directly  depend  upon  the  acknowledgment  of  a  He- 
brew original  of  Matthew's  Gospel.  Indirectly,  how- 
ever, it  does  ;  for  if  that  original  be  admitted  it  furnishes 
another  indication  of  the  Jewish  aim  of  the  Evangelist. 
Besides,  the  same  d  priori  critical  methods  that  would 
sweep  this  Hebrew  document  out  of  existence  would 
carry  away  with  it  all  the  most  stable  facts  of  history, 
leave  the  Gospels  without  any  historical  basis,  and  make 
all  investigations  concerning  them  worse  than  useless. 
As  Archbishop  Whately  so  admirably  showed  in  his 
"  Historic  Doubts,"  this  new  and  advanced  mode  of  play- 
ing fast  and  loose  with  facts  would  annihilate  all  history. 

In  protesting  against  such  reckless  criticism,  Principal 
TuUoch,  in  his  "Lectures  on  Renan,"  says,  on  this  very 
point :  "  It  appears  to  us,  however,  that  it  is  impossible 

1  Josephus,  Jeiuish  Wars. 

2  See  fuller  discussion  in  Wordsworth. 


96  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL  FOR   THE  JEW. 

to  disregard  these  statements  (of  the  Fathers)  altogether, 
especially  while  resting  so  confidently  as  we  do  on  the  tes- 
timony of  the  same  Fathers  to  the  genuineness  of  the  Gos- 
pels. We  regret,  tlierefore,  to  notice  that,  in  the  last  edi^ 
tion  of  his  Greek  Testament,  Dean  Alford  goes  the  length 
of  repudiating  a  Hebrew  original  of  St.  Matthew's  Gos- 
pel, in  the  face  of  evidence  which,  with  all  possible  deduc- 
tions, seems  irresistible."  ^ 

It  may  be  confidently  afiirmed  then,  that,  taking  into 
account  the  number,  credibility,  and  competency  of  the 
witnesses  cited,  it  cannot  be  reasonably  maintained  that 
their  statements  on  these  points  are  not  in  the  main 
in  agreement  with  the  historical  facts,  and  that  they  did 
not  arise  out  of  those  facts.  Matthew  undoubtedly  pre- 
pared his  Gospel  for  the  Jews. 

SECTION  n. 

THE  CHARACTER  AND  NEEDS  OF  THE  JEW. 

If  the  first  Gospel  originated,  as  has  been  seen,  in  the 
preaching  of  the  Apostles,  especially  of  Matthew,  to  the 
Jews,  and  was  designed  to  commend  Jesus  to  the  accept- 
ance of  the  Jews,  then  the  character  and  needs  of  the 
Jew  must  furnish  the  key  to  that  Gospel. 

The  Jew  must  be  understood  before  the  Gospel  for  the 
Jews  can  be  adequately  appreciated  and  interpreted. 
What  manner  of  man  was  he  ?  What,  especially,  were 
his  spiritual  needs  ?  The  answers  will  cast  light  upon 
whatever  has  been  prepared  for  the  Jewish  race,  under 
the  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

I.   The  Jews, 

There  are  certain  characteristics  which  clearly  distin- 
guish   the    Jews    from   the   other   great   historic    races. 

1  Lectures  on  Henan's  '  Vie  de  Jesus,'  note,  p.  119. 


THE   JEWISH   CHARACTER.  97 

They  were  the  chosen  people  of  God,  and  were  con- 
scious that  God  was  in  a  peculiar  sense  in  their  his- 
tory. They  had  the  oracles  of  God,  the  true  world-re- 
ligion. They  had  the  only  divinely  ordained  forms  of 
religious  worship.  Above  all,  they  had  the  promise  of  the 
Messiah,  in  whom  all  their  blessings  and  privileges  should 
attain  perfection,  and  his  coming  was  the  central  and  ab- 
sorbing thought  in  the  mind  of  the  race. 

Out  of  these  characteristics,  which  made  the  Jew  an 
altogether  peculiar  man,  came  the  needs  of  the  Jewish 
race,  —  partly  through  a  right  development,  partly 
through  a  wrong.  Along  the  line  of  these  peculiarities 
must,  therefore,  be  sought  the  correct  understanding  of 
the  Gospel  requirements  of  the  Jews  in  the  time  of 
Christ  and  the  Apostles.  A  development  altogether 
right  would  have  produced  the  ideal  Jew ;  a  right  and 
wrong  combined  produced  the  actual  Jew. 

The  Chosen  People.  The  Jews  were  the  chosen  peo- 
ple of  God.  They  were  elected  to  be  the  objects  of  his 
special  care,  the  recipients  of  his  special  favor,  and,  nota- 
bly, to  be,  in  religion,  the  repository  of  God's  revealed 
truth,  the  hope  of  the  world,  and  the  central  race  of  the 
ages.    No  other  people  has  ever  occupied  such  a  position. 

Had  the  Jews  made  the  most  and  the  best  of  their 
election,  they  would  doubtless  have  been  to-day  the  most 
favored  race  of  mankind.  A  sense  of  the  distinguishing 
love  of  God  did  indeed  lead  the  true  Israel  to  humility, 
to  thankfulness,  to  devotion  to  Jehovah,  and  to  an  appre- 
ciation of  their  high  destiny.  But  in  the  days  of  Christ 
and  the  Apostles,  as  in  the  time  of  the  Prophets,  the  true 
Israel  was  but  a  remnant.  With  the  great  mass  of  the 
Jews  the  election  had  resulted  only  in  pride,  conceit,  ar- 
rogance. They  were  ever  ready  to  ciy,  "  We  be  Abra- 
ham's seed  and  heirs  to  the  promise  of  God,"  —  thus 
claiming   as   their  own   inherited  and   inalienable  right 


98       MATTHEW,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

what  could  be  theirs  only  through  the  grace  of  God  and 
fidelity  to  the  covenant. 

The  Jews  had  the  clear  consciousness  that  Jehovah 
was  in  a  peculiar  sense  in  their  history,  as  their  God. 
This  naturally  resulted  from  their  election  and  from  their 
ex2:)erience  as  a  people.  No  other  nation  could  point  to 
such  a  miraculous  career,  to  such  deliverances  in  which 
God  himself  appeared  in  his  omnipotence  to  save  them 
from  their  bondage,  from  their  adversaries,  from  their 
captivities.  Jehovah  was  known  throughout  the  world 
as  the  God  of  the  Jews. 

With  the  true  Israel  this  consciousness  of  intimate 
union  with  God  was  doubtless  a  source  of  spiritual  profit. 
It  was  a  great  comfort  in  prosecuting  the  ends  of  right- 
eousness to  feel  assured  that  all  the  world  existed  for 
them,  that  its  changes  took  place  for  them,  that  its  real 
treasures  were  to  be  inherited  and  enjoyed  by  them,  and 
that  all  the  nations  were  to  become  submissive  to  their 
faith.  It  sustained  them  in  sore  trials  and  lifted  them 
above  disaster  and  defeat  and  all  the  accidents  of  time. 

But  with  the  mass  of  Jews  it  led  to  a  national  narrow- 
ness and  exclusiveness,  which  had  reached  their  height  at 
the  time  of  the  Advent.  Their  selfishness  had  become 
extreme  and  proverbial.  While  they  had  forgotten  that 
they  were  elect  out  of  the  world,  not  against  it  but  for 
it,  in  order  that  all  the  world  might  be  blessed  in  them, 
they  had  also  forgotten  that  the  world  was  not  theirs  for 
them  to  make  the  most  of  as  Jews  for  their  own  selfish 
ends,  but  theirs  to  bring  to  the  true  faith  through  the 
oracles  of  God  and  the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  Their 
selfishness  naturally  led  to  worldliness  and  covetousness. 
The  old  Mosaic  enactments  —  such  as  that  of  the  Sabba- 
tic year  and  of  the  tithes  to  be  used  in  the  religious  fes- 
tivals and  to  be  distributed  to  the  poor  —  which  were 
intended,  negatively,  to  scatter  the  Jews*  property  and 


THE   JEWISH   CHARACTER.  99 

to  check  the  cupidity  of  their  nature,  and,  positively,  to 
bring  out  a  genuine  and  large  benevolence,  had  long  since 
become  a  dead  letter,  and  through  their  haste  to  become 
rich  the  name  Jew  was  becoming  then,  as  it  is  now,  "  a 
by-word  and  a  hissing." 

The  Evangelist  who  would  reach  and  save  the  Jews 
must  recognize  their  election  and  the  presence  of  God  in 
their  history,  and  must  at  the  same  time  aim  to  correct 
their  errors. 

The  "World-religion.  The  Jews  had  the  oracles  of 
God.  The  world-religion  had  been  delivered  to  them. 
They  alone  had  the  written  revelation  of  the  true  God. 
That  revelation  gave  them  the  key  to  the  character  of 
Jehovah,  to  his  works,  to  his  providences,  to  his  sublime 
and  eternal  plan.  It  cast  the  only  clear  light  in  the 
world  upon  the  nature,  character,  condition,  and  destiny 
of  man.  It  alone  gave  man  a  glimpse  of  the  origin  and 
end  of  the  universe  and  the  present  earthly  system  of 
things.  In  short,  the  Jews  had  all  the  clear  rehgious 
light  in  the  world. 

An  Apostle  has  declared  that  the  benefits  of  the  elec- 
tion of  Israel  were  every  way  great,  and  chiefly  because 
to  them  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God  (Rom.  iii.  2). 
The  revelation  of  doctrine  given  to  the  Jew  had  in  it  all 
the  germs  of  the  fuller  revelation  by  Christ ;  so  that  the 
true  Judaism  found  its  natural  culmination  in  Christian- 
ity. As  a  fact  that  old  revelation  led  the  true  Israel, 
along  lines  of  thought  and  experience  the  most  natural, 
directly  to  Christianity.  It  is  likewise  a  fact  that  it  led 
the  most  of  the  Jews  to  a  knowledge  of  the  true  doctrine 
concerning  God,  a  knowledge  to  which  the  Gentiles  did 
not  attain,  and  thus  made  it  unnecessary  for  the  Evangel- 
ist of  the  Jews  to  dwell  upon  these  elementjiry  doctrines. 

At  the  time  of  the  Advent,  the  masses  had  departed 
from  the  pure    religion  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets. 


100  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR  THE  JEW. 

The  great  council,  the  Sanhedrim,  the  head  of  the  Jewish 
system,  had  been  brought,  in  large  measure,  under  the 
influence  of  the  heathen  rulers  of  the  nation,  and  secular- 
ized. There  had  sprung  up  a  party,  the  Herodians,  doubt- 
less numerous,  who  had  cut  loose  from  Jewish  hopes  and 
aspirations  as  well  as  Jewish  worship,  and  who  "  saw  in 
the  power  of  the  Herodian  family  the  pledge  of  the  pres- 
ervation of  their  national  existence  in  the  face  of  Roman 
ambition,"  —  a  party  so  entirely  worldly  that  a  Herod 
could  meet  all  their  longings  for  a  deliverer.  The  remain- 
der of  the  nation  was  divided  into  the  two  great  religious 
sects,  —  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  (the  Essenes  or 
mystics  were  too  few  to  be  of  importance),  the  tradition- 
alists and  the  skeptics.  The  former  class,  embracing  by 
far  the  greater  number  and  reaching  down  among  the 
common  people,  had  added  to  the  teaching  of  the  Script- 
ures a  mass  of  traditions  which  had  completely  overlaid 
that  teaching,  and  taken  its  place,  making  their  religion 
mere  form  and  ceremony,  mere  theatrical  show.  The  lat- 
ter class,  comprising  the  more  scholarly  and  cultivated  of 
the  people,  had  not  only  discarded  all  tradition,  and  re- 
jected every  doctrine  which  was  not  plainly  taught  in  the 
Scriptures,  but  had  made  free  with  the  Scriptures  them- 
selves —  very  much  after  the  style  of  the  modern  ration- 
alists —  receiving  or  rejecting  as  best  suited  them,  and 
giving  little  or  no  attention  to  practical  religion.  In 
truth  practical  religion  was  at  the  lowest  ebb. 

Most  of  the  Jews  had  lost  sight  of  or  perverted  those 
great  doctrines  which  are  the  proper  regulators  of  human 
conduct.  Their  practical  creed  ran  thus  :  "  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  and  hate  thine  enemy."  "  Thou  shalt 
not  take  interest  from  a  Jew,  but  shalt  exact  usurious  in- 
terest from  all  Gentiles."  *'  Be  scrupulous  about  outward 
forms,  for  God  looks  mainly  at  these."  To  each  living 
truth  they  had  conjoined  the  fatal  error  which  destroyed 
it,  or  else  had  quite  substituted  the  error  for  the  truth. 


THE   JEWISH   CHARACTER.  101 

The  Evangelist  who  would  reach  and  save  the  Jews 
must  recognize  their  possession  of  God's  oracles,  and 
must  seek  to  recall  these  lost  principles  and  to  correct  the 
perverted  ones.  He  must  carry  this  apostatizing  race 
back  to  the  oracles  of  God. 

The  Divine  Forms.  The  Jews  had  the  only  divinely 
ordained  forms  of  religious  worship.  The  Mosaic  ordi- 
nances embodied  the  Mosaic  truth.  The  Mosaic  ritual 
embodied  God's  view  of  the  best  forms  of  the  divine 
worship  in  that  age  of  tutelage,  when  prescribed  forms 
seemed  necessary  to  a  rude  people  who  were  under  train- 
ing for  a  later  spiritual  age  and  worship.  The  Jews 
alone  had  the  true  and  God-given  forms  of  worship. 

These  religious  forms  were  doubtless  very  helpful  to 
the  true  Israel  in  keeping  the  revelations  of  God  before 
their  minds,  and  lifting  their  thoughts  heavenward. 
The  ritual  undoubtedly  served  as  a  perpetual  object-les- 
son to  the  whole  nation,  keeping  some  of  the  main  truths 
of  Judaism  always  before  them. 

But  the  mass  of  the  nation,  long  before  the  Advent, 
had  lost  sight  of  the  substance  in  the  form.  Their  relig- 
ion had  become  intensely  formal,  a  mere  outward  show, 
•^  procedure  in  which  man  only  acted  a  part,  played  the 
hypocrite.  The  Pharisees  could  steal  the  possessions  of 
widows  and  orphans,  and  then  tithe  the  herbs  and  weeds 
in  their  gardens  and  make  long  prayers  at  the  corners  of 
the  broad  streets,  and  think  themselves  the  patterns  of 
the  world  in  religion. 

The  Evangelist  who  would  reach  and  save  the  Jews 
must  understand  the  true  import  of  these  divine  forms, 
as  the  changing  shadows  of  an  unchanging  substance, 
and  must  aim  to  correct  this  awful,  and,  if  uncorrected, 
fatal  perversion  of  the  truth. 

The  Messianic  Promise.  Above  all,  the  Jews  had 
the  promise  of  the  Messiah. 


102       MATTHEW,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

Acknowledging  tlie  divine  authority  of  tlie  Old  Tes- 
tament Scriptures,  they  read  in  them  of  a  coming  Deliv- 
erer. The  promises  and  prophecies  had  grown  clearer 
all  along  the  centuries.  He  was  to  be  the  seed  of  the ' 
woman,  the  seed  of  Abraham,  a  prophet  like  unto  Moses, 
the  royal  son  of  David,  the  child  of  a  virgin.  All  the 
types  found  their  explanation  in  him,  all  the  sacrifices 
pointed  to  him,  all  prophecy  centred  in  him,  all  the  ex- 
perience and  history  of  Israel  shadowed  his  coming  and 
work.  In  person  he  was  to  be  God  and  man,  Emmanuel, 
the  everlasting  Father  and  the  man  of  sorrows  in  one. 
Officially  he  was  to  be  Messiah,  or,  as  the  Greek  has  it, 
Christ,  the  anointed  of  God ;  and  as  the  anointing  of 
the  old  dispensation  was  used  in  inducting  into  the  three 
offices  of  prophet,  king,  and  priest,  he  was  to  be  a 
prophet,  like  the  greatest  of  the  prophets,  was  to  be  the 
legal  heir  to  the  throne  of  David,  and  was  to  bear  the 
sins  of  his  people.  This  great  outline  was  filled  in  with 
a  multitude  of  details,  made  up  of  circumstances  and  in- 
cidents connected  with  his  birth,  his  life,  and  his  death, 
and  serving  to  mark  his  character  and  his  work  for  the 
world.  The  Jews  had  daily  access  to  this  prophetic  his- 
tory of  the  Messiah,  and  were  hourly  expecting  his  ad- 
vent when  Jesus  of  Nazareth  came  and  claimed  to  be 
the  fulfilhnent  of  prophecy. 

To  the  true  Israel,  the  Simeons  and  Annas,  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Messiah  was  the  support  and  solace  in  the 
trial  and  sorrow  which  fell  upon  the  later  days  of  the 
old  dispensation  and  made  way  for  the  opening  of  the 
new. 

But  the  masses  had  departed  from  the  correct  teaching 
on  this  subject.  They  had  not  read  the  prophets  aright. 
They  had  started  out  from  the  prediction  of  Christ  as 
the  son  and  heir  of  David,  or  as  king,  and  had  warped 
all  their  reading  and  interpretation  to  agree  with  their 


THE   JEWISH   CHARACTER.  108 

worldly  notions  of  what  was  demanded  by  that.  The 
Roman  Empire  dazzled  them  and  they  could  only  inter 
pret  prophecy  in  its  light.  David  had  conquered  and 
imposed  tribute  on  the  surrounding  nations,  had  led  the 
armies  and  decided  the  great  civil  questions,  had  made 
Israel  one  of  the  powerful  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  The 
Jew  overlooked  or  explained  away  everything  that  did 
not  accord  with  the  temporal  splendor  of  a  king  and 
kingdom  after  this  model.  He  had  cast  away  that 
grander  idea  of  a  spiritual,  universal,  and  everlasting 
kingdom,  which  fills  the  books  of  the  Prophets.  He  had 
lost  sight  of  the  part  to  be  played  by  the  prophet  and 
priest  in  the  Messianic  work  and  character.  His  Messiah 
was  to  be  the  Jewish  Coe^ar  of  the  world. 

As  the  Messianic  idea  was  the  one  in  which  all  the 
other  Jewish  ideas  of  that  age  centred  and  culminated, 
the  Evangelist  who  would  reach  and  save  the  Jewish 
race  must,  above  everything  else,  keep  in  view  the  true 
doctrine  on  that  point,  and  must,  most  of  all,  give  him- 
self to  correcting  the  otherwise  fatal  perversions  of  the 
truth  by  the  degenerate  Jews. 

II.   The  Key  to  Matthew's  Gospel, 

Such  being  the  character  of  the  Jews,  it  is  easy  to  see 
how  it  furnishes  the  key  to  the  Gospel  intended  for 
them. 

Clearly  it  would  have  been  a  fatal  mistake  to  set  forth 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  —  as  Mark  sets  him  forth  for  the  Ro- 
man—  simply  as  the  Son  of  God,  wielding  almighty 
power  in  establishing  a  universal  empire.  It  would  not 
have  commended  him  to  the  true  Israel  who  had  been 
holding  out  for  ages,  with  brave  heart  and  boundless  en- 
durance, against  the  material  power  of  all  the  great 
nations  of  the  world,  and  who  ever  bowed  to  Scriptures 
and  prophecy,  but  never  to  mere  power.     It  would  have 


104  MATTHEW,   THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

had  little  attraction  for  the  apostate  Israel,  absorbed  in 
their  dream  of  a  magnificent  world-empire,  except  as  it 
tended  to  foster  their  perverse  view  of  the  Messiah. 

Equally  vain  would  it  have  been  to  bring  him  forward 
as  Luke  does  —  as  the  divine-man,  coming  down  from 
God  out  of  heaven,  passing  through  a  perfect  human  de- 
velopment, entering  into  sympathy  with  all  suffering 
and  sorrowing  humanity  —  for  the  Jew  was  not  looking 
for  the  perfect  man,  the  son  of  Adam,  the  son  of  God, 
but  for  a  son  of  Abraham,  a  king  descended  from  David 
by  the  royal  line. 

Still  more  fruitless  would  it  have  been  to  exhibit  him 
as  John  does,  —  as  the  eternal  Word,  the  very  God,  the 
light  and  life  of  the  world,  —  for  the  veil  was  before  the 
eyes  of  the  Jew,  and  he  could  not  discern  the  spiritual 
God  as  manifested  in  the  Word.  The  light  shone  into 
the  darkness  and  the  darkness  comprehended  it  not. 

For  the  Jew  the  credentials  of  Jesus  must  be  drawn 
from  Moses  and  the  Prophets.  In  his  origin,  human  and 
divine,  in  the  capital  facts  of  his  life,  in  his  character  pri- 
vate and  official,  in  short,  in  his  work  and  in  his  king- 
dom, he  must  be  shown  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
Messianic  Scriptures.  Jesus  must  be  set  over  against  the 
prophetic  Messiah,  so  that  they  shall  both  be  seen  to  be 
one  and  the  same.  This  work  properly  done,  no  Jew 
could  escape  the  conclusion  ;  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the 
Messiah. 

SECTION  III. 

THE   AUTHORSHIP    OF   THE   FIRST   GOSPEL. 

There  has  been  but  one  prevalent  opinion  concerning 
the  authorship  of  the  first  Gospel.  It  has  always  been 
ascribed  to  a  Jew,  the  Apostle  Matthew.  This  author- 
ship is  sufficiently  established  by  the  witnesses  already 
cited. 


THE   AUTHORSHIP.  105 

Like  most  of  the  Apostles  of  our  Lord,  he  was  a  man 
ahnost  without  a  biography.  He  takes  occasion  to  men- 
tion but  the  fewest  facts  concerning  himself  :  his  call  to 
become  a  disciple  of  Jesus  ;  the  feast  which  he  made  for 
his  new  Master  ;  and  his  appointment  to  the  Apostleship. 
The  other  Evangelists  simply  corroborate  his  statement 
of  these  facts.  Tradition,  as  has  been  seen,  makes  some 
additions  concerning  the  origin  of  the  Gospel  which 
bears  his  name,  and  concerning  his  later  ministry  outside 
of  Judaea. 

I.  A  Representative  Jew  in  Nature, 

From  these  facts  and  traditions  in  connection  with  the 
Gospel  itself,  the  Apostle  is  seen  to  have  been  a  repre- 
sentative Jew  and  eminently  fitted  by  his  nature,  and  by 
his  experience,  Jewish  and  Christian,  for  the  work  of 
preaching  and  embodying  the  Gospel  for  the  Jewish  race. 
What  is  known  of  his  personal  history  marks  him  as  a 
man  appreciating  the  need  for  the  Gospel  most  fully  him- 
self, and  fitted  to  press  it  most  earnestly  upon  the  accept- 
ance of  his  countrymen. 

His  own  account  of  his  call  to  become  a  disciple  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  feast  in  his  house,  is  as  follows : 
"  And  as  Jesus  passed  forth  from  thence,  he  saw  a  man, 
named  Matthew,  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom  ;  and 
he  saith  unto  him.  Follow  me.  And  he  arose  and  fol- 
lowed him.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  Jesus  sat  at  meat 
in  the  house,  behold,  many  publicans  and  sinners  came 
and  sat  down  with  him,  and  his  disciples  "  (Matt.  ix. 
9,  10).  Mark,  in  his  account,  calls  Matthew  by  liis  Jew- 
ish name,  "  Levi,  the  son  of  Alpheus,"  and  represents 
the  feast  as  occurring  in  his  house  (Mark  ii.  14,  15). 
Luke  names  him  Levi,  and  declares  that  "he  left 
all,"  that  he  made  Jesus  "  a  great  feast  in  his  own 
house,"  and  that  there  was  "  a  great  company  of  publi- 


106  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

cans  and  others  that  sat  down  with  them  "  (Luke  v. 
27-29). 

The  account  of  his  appointment  to  the  Apostleship  is 
given  by  himself,  by  Mark,  and  by  Luke.  All  the  cata- 
logues place  him  in  the  fourth  couple  of  the  twelve  Apos- 
tles along  with  Thomas ;  Mark  and  Luke  place  him  first, 
"  Matthew  and  Thomas"  (Mark  iii.  18;  Luke  vi.  15)  ; 
but  he  places  himself  second,  and  writes,  "  Thomas  and 
Matthew  the  puhliccm^^  (x.  3). 

The  business  of  the  tax-gatherer,  from  which  he  was 
called,  had  doubtless  trained  him  to  system.  The  public 
official  is  obliged  to  methodize  his  business,  to  use  titles, 
headings,  indices,  to  put  things  into  such  shape  that  they 
may  be  easily  grasped  and  understood.  Hence  his  emi- 
nent fitness  to  present  to  the  Jew  the  claims  of  Jesus  as 
Messiah,  in  a  clear,  systematic,  and  business-like  man- 
ner. 

It  is  obvious,  likewise,  that  the  business  of  the  publi- 
can must  have  led  him  to  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
Jewish  character,  especially  of  the  covetousness  and  hy- 
pocrisy which  were  such  marked  features  of  it. 

As  a  publican  he  was  at  variance  with  the  Pharisaic 
party,  and  the  Pharisaic  disposition  among  his  own  peo- 
ple. By  the  orthodox  Jew  he  must  have  been  looked 
upon  as  unclean  and  often  treated  as  an  object  of  con- 
tempt. He  may  have  been  freed  from  the  power  of 
Pharisaism  in  either  of  two  ways :  by  being  overcome 
and  carried  away  by  the  spirit  of  covetousness  and  extor- 
tion, which  reached  their  height  in  the  average  tax- 
gatherer  of  the  day  ;  or  by  attaining  to  a  more  liberal 
piety  and  a  more  vital  comprehension  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  so  reaching  a  contempt  for  the  common  for- 
mality and  hypocrisy  which  passed  for  piety. 

It  was  in  the  latter  way  that  Zaccheus  attained  to  his 
emancipation  from  Pharisaism,  and  it  has  been  suggested 


THE   AUTHORSHIP.  107 

that  Matthew  was  a  Jew  of  like  spirit,  and  therefore  an 
honest  and  upright  publican.  The  readiness  with  which 
he  left  his  vocation  and  his  possessions  to  follow  Jesus, 
and  the  necessity  for  some  previous  spiritual  fitness  on 
his  part,  have  been  urged  in  favor  of  this  view.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  equally  strong  reasons  may  be 
brought  forward  for  regarding  him  as  belonging  to  the 
infamous  rather  than  to  the  pious  publicans.  From  the 
time  of  his  conversion  he  seems  to  have  regarded  the 
publican  on  the  one  side,  as  he  regarded  the  Pharisee  on 
the  other,  as  a  representative  Jewish  sinner,  each,  in  his 
place  and  way,  the  wickedest  man  of  his  race.  It  is  re- 
markable that  he  has  not  recorded  the  story  of  Zaccheus, 
the  honest  publican,  nor  the  parable  of  the  Pharisee  and 
the  publican,  nor  anything  else  concerning  the  publicans 
which  could  raise  our  estimate  of  their  character  as  a 
class.  It  is  still  more  remarkable  that  he  has  recorded 
so  much  that  blackens  that  character,  and  especially  that 
memorable  saying  of  our  Lord,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Z^- 
that  the  publicans  and  the  harlots  go  into  the  kingdom 
of  God  before  you"  (xxi.  31).  While  he  joins  with  the 
other  Evangelists  in  connecting  the  publicans  and  sin- 
ners, he  alone,  in  this  passage,  conjoins  publicans  and 
harlots. 

II.   A  Representative  Jew  in  Experience, 

There  is  also  enough  in  these  facts,  in  connection  with 
his  Gospel,  to  show  that  Matthew's  experience  of  the 
saving  power  of  the  Gospel  was  that  of  a  representative 
Jew. 

He  arose   and    left   all   and    followed    Jesus.     These 

words  of  Luke  indicate,  perhaps,  that  he  had  grown  rich 

or  was  growing  rich  in  the  calling  of  the  publican.     He 

left  behind  him  forever  the  gain  and  the  means  of  gain, 

1  See  Lange,  Life  ofJesiis,  vol.  i. 


108  MATTHEW    THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

SO  dear  to  the  man  who  is  a  Jew  by  nature,  to  follow  him 
who  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head.  It  was  a  complete 
revolution  of  character  and  life. 

But  if  Matthew  was  one  of  the  outcast  publicans, 
justly  regarded  as  infamous,  then  his  conversion  into  an 
Apostle  of  the  Lord,  in  whom  he  recognized  the  true  and 
eternal  king  of  Israel,  must  have  been  indelibly  im- 
pressed upon  his  mind  as  a  miracle  of  divine  grace.  He 
was  despised  in  the  eyes  of  the  false  theocrats  of  Israel, 
and  the  true  Theocrat  thus  highly  exalted  him.  He 
must  have  learned  to  feel  the  contrast  between  the  true 
and  the  spurious  kingdom  of  God  in  all  their  respective 
aspects.  But  even  without  taking  into  account  the  un- 
reasonable contempt  of  the  Pharisees,  it  is  still  manifest 
that  his  former  doubtful  calling,  when  compared  with  his 
present  exalted  vocation,  his  former  associates,  who  con- 
sisted partly  of  the  most  degraded  of  men,  when  con- 
trasted with  the  consecrated  circle  in  which  he  now  lived, 
and,  finally,  his  former,  when  compared  with  his  present, 
state  of  mind,  must  all  have  appeared  to  him  in  their 
darkest  colors.  He  was  translated  from  a  condition  of 
the  deepest  shame  to  one  of  the  highest  honor,  from  a 
most  critical  to  a  most  advantageous  position.  Hence  it 
would  accord  with  such  a  state  of  things,  that  a  strong 
feeling  for  contrasts  should  have  been  found  in  him,"  ^ 
along  with  a  profound  appreciation  of  all  the  various 
aspects  of  life. 

His  many  years  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  his  coun- 
trymen compelled  him  to  study  most  diligently  the  great 
facts  concerning  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus,  and  to 
throw  them  into  the  form  best  suited  to  commend  him  as 
Messiah  to  the  Jews. 

Recurring  to  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  Jew, 
as  already  given,  it  will  be  seen  that  Matthew  had  meas- 

1  See  Lange,  Life  of  Jesus,  vol.  i. 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  109 

ured  tlie  whole  range  of  tlie  Jewish  character  and  expe- 
rience. He  was  one  of  the  chosen  people,  and  under- 
stood their  arrogant,  self-righteous  claims  to  the  peculiar 
favor  of  God  and  to  exclusive  right  to  the  world.  He 
was  familiar  with  the  oracles  of  God  and  with  their  per- 
versions. He  had  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  forms  of 
the  true  religion,  and  with  the  formality  and  hypocrisy 
that  had  arisen  out  of  them.  He  had  been  taught  the 
true  doctrine  of  Messiah  and  all  the  departures  from  it. 
All  this  is  manifest  throughout  his  Gospel. 

Take  him  all  in  all,  there  was  no  man  among  the  Apos- 
tles so  fitted  as  Matthew  to  embody  the  Gospel  in  per- 
manent form  for  the  Jew.  The  impulse  which  led  his 
countrymen  to  ask  him  to  make  a  record  of  that  Gospel 
for  them,  and  that  which  led  him  to  accede  to  their  re- 
quest, were  doubtless  both  from  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
Spirit  of  all  wisdom.  Doubtless,  out  of  all  the  men  of 
that  age,  the  Holy  Ghost  chose  the  man  best  fitted,  by 
his  nature  and  experience  as  a  representative  Jew,  to 
write  the  Gospel  for  the  Jew. 


CHAPTER  n. 

CRITICAL  VIEW   OF  THE  JEWISH   ADAPTATION    OF   THE 
FIRST  GOSPEL. 

In"  examining  the  first  Gospel  in  the  light  of  its  Jewish 
origin,  design,  and  authorship,  its  very  marked  adaptation 
to  the  needs  of  the  Jew  of  that  age  will  become  apparent 
as  we  consider  the  plan  of  the  Evangelist,  the  central  idea 
and  general  drift  of  his  production,  the  characteristic 
omissions  and  additions,  and  the  incidental  variations  and 
peculiarities. 


110  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 


SECTION  I. 

THE   JEWISH  ADAPTATION  IN  THE    GENERAL  PLAN  OF 
THE   FIRST   GOSPEL. 

It  may  seem  strange,  and  requiring  explanation,  that  at 
this  late  day  inquiry  should  need  to  be  made  in  order  to 
ascertain  the  plan  of  the  Gospels.  Have  we  not  the  di- 
visions of  Matthew  and  its  plan  given  in  the  twenty- 
eight  chapters  of  the  Gospel  ?  Is  not  the  same  thing 
true  of  the  sixteen  chapters  of  Mark  ;  of  the  twenty-four 
of  Luke;  of  the  twenty-one  of  John?  Why,' then,  look 
any  farther  ? 

I.   The  Plan  of  the  Gospels. 

Even  a  partial  investigation  of  the  facts  will  convince 
any  one  that  the  outward  history  of  the  Bible  is  one  con- 
tinued record  of  marvels.  Sometimes  an  accident,  often 
a  trifle,  has,  in  the  ordainings  of  Providence  and  through 
cooperation  with  some  prevailing  tendency  of  human 
thought  or  drift  of  human  events,  decided  the  way  in 
which  the  great  mass  of  men  should  regard  the  Word  of 
God  for  centuries  to  come. 

The  mechanical  division  of  its  separate  books  into 
chapters  and  verses  may  be  looked  upon  as  one  of  these 
apparently  trifling  incidents,  which  has  nevertheless  ex- 
erted a  vast  influence  upon  the  views  taken  of  the  con- 
nections of  the  Scriptures,  from  the  time  when  the  printed 
Bible  first  began  to  find  a  place  in  the  Christian  home 
until  the  present  day.  The  work  was  done  in  a  way,  and 
at  a  time,  to  give  it  the  greatest  possible  influence  in 
hiding  the  structural  harmony  and  unity  of  the  Sacred 
Word.  Prepared  by  a  purely  mechanical  process,  —  as 
one  would  be  led  to  conclude,  without  even  the  trouble 
of  an  examination,   by  the  fact  that  Robert   Stephens 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  Ill 

completed  the  division  of  the  New  Testament  into  verses 
during  a  journey  on  horseback  from  Paris  to  Lyons,  in 
the  troublous  times  of  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cent- 
ury ;  given  to  the  Church  ten  years  before  the  birth  of 
Lord  Bacon,  while  the  mechanical  philosophy  still  held 
undisputed  sway  in  the  world  of  thought ;  it  was  exactly 
fitted  to  meet  the  intellectual  wants  of  the  times.  Com- 
mending itself  as  a  convenient  arrangement,  in  favor  of 
which  much  may  yet  be  said ;  completed  in  time  to  be 
attached  to  even  the  earlier  English  editions  of  the  Bible 
(the  earliest  had  been  issued  only  sixteen  years  before, 
and  King  James's  version  was  not  issued  till  sixty  years 
after),  it  was  equally  fitted  to  take  advantage  of  the 
drift  of  events  in  extending  and  perpetuating  its  influence 
among  the  English-speaking  peoples. 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  the  present  discus- 
sion to  inquire,  what  may  have  been  the  design  of  God 
in  ordering  such  a  thing  at  such  a  time.  One  result  of 
it  has  undoubtedly  been  to  turn  the  attention  to  the  great 
doctrines  that  everywhere  lie  upon  the  very  surface  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  to  reserve  the  development  of  the 
argument  for  the  rhetorical  unity  of  the  various  books 
of  the  Bible  until  this  age,  when  the  attack  comes  from 
that  side.  On  the  other  hand,  it  can  scarcely  be  denied 
that  its  tendency  has  been  to  lead  the  multitudes  to 
read  the  Word  of  God  very  much  as  if  made  up  of  de- 
tached portions,  having  little  or  no  logical  or  rhetori- 
cal connection  with  one  another,  and  each  composed  of 
ten  or  twenty  words,  more  or  less  ;  and  to  lead  the  popu- 
lar expounders  of  the  Scriptures  to  construct  their  com- 
mentaries very  much  in  accordance  with  this  view. 

Perhaps  the  influence  of  this  mechanical  chopping  up 
of  the  Scriptures,  in  preventing  the  recognition  of  a  beau- 
tiful structural  harmony,  and  in  concealing  most  obvious 
and  characteristic  differences  in  aim  and  plan,  has  been 


112  MATTHEW,  THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

nowhere  more  positive  tlian  in  that  portion  so  much  read 
and  commented  upon  —  the  Gospels.  The  common  theory 
among  the  masses  seems  to  accept  the  productions  of  the 
Evangelists  as  so  many  lives  of  Christ,  more  or  less  com- 
plete, but  it  assigns  no  peculiar  sphere  and  attributes  no 
special  design  to  any  one  of  them.  It  recognizes  no  ex- 
isting reason  why  there  should  be  more  than  one  Gospel, 
or,  since  there  are  more  than  one,  why  there  should  not 
be  three  or  five  instead  of  four. 

It  follows  naturally  from  this  failure  to  recognize  a 
specific  aim  in  each  Gospel,  that  the  masses  come  to  look 
upon  them  all  as  being  without  coherent  plan  or  inherent 
harmony  of  structure.  Nor  could  one  even  remotely  in- 
fer from  most  of  the  works  professing  to  expound  them 
for  the  masses,  that  Matthew  or.  Mark  or  Luke  or  John, 
whether  consciously  or  unconsciously,  each  gave  to  the 
world  a  book  with  a  definite  plan,  possessed  of  a  harmony 
and  unity  entirely  different  from  that  which  Cardinal 
Hugo  and  Robert  Stephens  together  discovered  so  long 
ago,  when  the  former  divided  the  New  Testament  into 
chapters  and  the  latter  into  verses. 

These  considerations  will  fairly  justify  the  present  in- 
quir}^  after  the  plan  of  the  Gospels. 

II.   The  Plan  of  3fatthezv's   Gospel. 

It  may  be  seen,  in  the  light  of  a  careful  study  of  its 
origin,  aim,  and  matter,  that  the  Gospel  according  to 
Matthew  is  naturally  divided  into  five  parts,  or,  rather, 
into  three  principal  parts,  —  presenting  the  successive 
stages  of  the  work  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  in  establishing 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  —  with  an  appropriate  introduc- 
tion and  conclusion. 

In  these  divisions  the  character  and  career  of  Jesus 
are  unfolded  in  their  connection  with  the  appropriate 
Old  Testament  exhibitions  of  the  Messiah.     The  historic 


THE    GENERAL   PLAN.  113 

personage  is  thus  seen  side  by  side  with  the  prophetic 
ideal,  and  the  exact  correspondence  of  the  two  is  made 
apparent. 

It  may  not  be  wholly  unnecessary  to  remark  that  an 
outline  view  is  given  first,  in  order  that,  by  getting  the 
contents  of  the  Gospel  fully  and  clearly  before  the  mind, 
the  way  may  be  prepared  for  a  better  understanding  of 
the  more  specific  and  interesting  views  that  are  to  follow. 

For  the  assistance  of  any  who  may  desire  to  make  a 
fuller  comparative  study  of  the  characters  of  "  Jesus  " 
and  ''  Messiah,"  the  Messianic  teachings  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament have  been  connected  with  the  outline  view  given 
of  Matthew's  Gospel. 

OUTLINE  OF  THE   FIRST  GOSPEL. 

INTRODUCTIOK. 

The  Advent  of  the  Messiah.  Matthew  demonstrates 
by  way  of  introduction,  that  Jesus  had  the  origin  and  of- 
ficial preparation  of  the  Messiah  of  the  Prophets,  i.  1- 
iv.  11. 

Section  1.  Jesus  had  the  origin  of  the  Messiah,  i.  1- 
ii.  23. 

A.  In  his  royal  and  covenant  descent  from  David  and 
Abraham,     i.  1-17. 

Prophetic  References.  For  the  prophecies  suggested  to  the  Jew  by  verse 
1,  see  Ps.  Ixxxix.  35,  36  ,  cxxxii.  11  ;  Isa.  ix.  6,  7  ;  xi.  1 ;  Jer.  xxiii.  5,  6. 
For  the  scriptural  basis  of  the  argument  of  the  genealogy,  see  the  gen- 
ealogies in  Gen.  xlvi. ;  Ruth  iv. ;  1  Chron.  iii. 

B.  In  his  divine  origin  and  human  birth,  as  Imman- 
uel,  —  begotten  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  born  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mary.     i.  18-25. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  prophecy  fulfilled  in  this  passage,  and  formally 
referred  to  in  verses  22,  23,  see  Isa.  vii.  14.  For  the  prophecy  that  he 
shiill  save  his  people  from  their  sins,  and  for  the  scriptural  data  for  de- 
ciding that  this  was  the  precise  time  for  the  appearing  of  the  Messiah,  see 
Dan.  ix.  24-26. 


114       MATTHEW,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

C.  In  the  place  of  his  birth,  —  not  Nazareth,  as  the 
Jews  supposed,  but  Bethlehem ;  in  the  circumstances  of 
his  early  life  in  connection  with  the  two  places ;  and  in 
the  place  of  his  residence  and  development,  the  secluded 
Nazareth,     ii.  1-23. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  prophecy  of  the  star,  ch.  ii.  2,  see  Num.  xxiv.  17. 
For  tlie  coming  of  the  Gentiles,  fulfilled  in  the  Magi,  verse  1,  see  Isa.  xi. 
10;  xlii.  1 ;  Ix.  3.  With  the  decree  of  the  Sanhedrim,  verse  6,  compare 
iVIic.  V.  2.  With  the  flight  into  Egypt,  verses  13-15,  compare  Hos.  xi.  I. 
With  the  murder  of  the  innocents,  verses  16-18,  compare  Jer.  xxxi.  15. 
With  the  settlement  and  residence  in  Nazareth,  verse  23,  compare  Ps.  xxii. 
6 ;  Ixix.  7,  12  ;  Isa.  xHx.  7  ;  liii.  2,  3,  etc. ;  and  John  i.  46. 

Section  2.  Jesus  received  the  preparation  and  inaug- 
uration of  the  Messiah,     iii.  1-iv.  11. 

A.  In  the  preparation  of  the  Jews,  by  a  forerunner, 
for  his  public  appearance  and  ministry,     iii.  1-12. 

Proph.  Rpfs.  For  the  prophecy  of  the  forerunner,  referred  to  in  verse 
3,  see  Isa.  xl.  3.  For  the  garb  of  the  forerunner,  verse  4,  see  2  Kings  i.  8. 
For  the  prophetic  character  of  Messiah,  verses  10-12,  see  Isa.  iv.  4;  xli.  8- 
16  ;  Mai.  iii.  1-3. 

B.  In  his  external  and  public  consecration  for  his  work, 
in  the  baptism  by  John  and  in  the  recognition  and  anoint- 
ing from  heaven,     iii.  13-17. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  prophecy  of  the  Messiah's  subjection  to  the  law  of 
righteousness,  verse  15,  see  Ps.  xl.  6-10;  Jer.  xxiii.  6.  For  the  promise 
of  anointing  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  verse  16,  see  Isa.  xlii.  1  ;lxi.  1.  For  the 
prophetic  recognition  as  the  Son  of  God,  verse  17,  see  Ps.  ii.  7. 

C.  In  his  internal  and  private  girding  for  the  Mes- 
siah's work  and  his  actual  commencement  of  that  work, 
as  man  for  man,  in  his  first  bruising  of  the  serpent's 
head,  in  the  temptation,     iv.  1-11. 

Proph.  Refs.  Compare  with  this  passage  the  Protevangclium,  or  first 
Gospel  revelation,  Gen.  iii.  15.  Also  the  promised  obedience  of  the  Messiah 
to  the  law  of  God  for  man,  Ps.  xl.  7,  with  the  fulfillment  in  this  passage, 
ia  verses  3,  4,  of  the  law  of  self-renunciation,  Deut.  viii.  3  ;  in  verses  5-7,  of 
the  law  of  trust  in  God,  Ps.  xci.  11,  12,  and  Deut.  vi.  16  ;  in  verses  8-10,  of 
the  law  of  worship,  Deut.  vi.  13.  Compare  the  experience  of  verse  11  with 
the  promise  of  divine  protection  to  Messiah,  Ps.  xci.  11,  12. 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  115 


PART   I. 

The  Public  Proclamation  of  Messiah's  Kingdom. 
Matthew  demonstrates  that  Jesus  did  the  public  work 
and  bore  the  public  character  of  Messiah,  the  King  and 
Prophet,  in  the  period  devoted  chiefly  to  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  coming  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  with  divine 
power,  in  Galilee,     iv.  12-xvi.  12. 

Section  1.  Jesus  did  this  in  his  personal  proclamation, 
unfolding  the  law  and  relations  of  his  Kingdom,  and 
demonstrating  his  own  divine  authority,     iv.  12-ix.  35. 

A.  In  his  early  and  preliminary  work,  —  in  the  place, 
message,  and  results,     iv.  12-25. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  prophecy  of  the  place  of  begiuniug  his  mission, 
verses  12-17,  see  Isa.  ix.  1,  2.  With  verses  18-22,  compare  the  vision 
of  holy  waters,  Ezek.  xlvii.  9,  10.  With  verses  23-25,  compare  Isa.  Ixi. 
1-3,  etc. 

B.  In  his  proclamation  of  the  Law  of  the  Kingdom,  — 
in  its  spirituality,  as  contrasted  with  Jewish  views,  —  in 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,     v.  1-vii.  29. 

The  Lawgiver  presents  the  Constitution  of  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  by  exhibiting,  — 

a.  The  Citizens  of  the  Kingdom,     v.  3-16. 

(a.)  In  their  blessed  character  and  experience.     3-12. 
(b.)  In  their  salutary  influence  upon  the  world.    13-16. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  character  of  Messiah  as  King,  Prophet,  and  LaAV- 
giver,  compare  the  promise  to  Judah,  Gen.  xlix.  10;  and  of  a  prophet  like 
unto  Moses,  Deut.  xviii.  15.  Also  such  passages  as  Lsa.  ii.  2-4  ;  ix.  6,  7  ; 
Mic.  iv.  1-3,  etc.  For  the  prophetic  basis  for  the  spiritual  character  of 
the  subjects  of  the  kingdom,  see  the  predictions  and  partial  descriptions 
in  Ps.  Ixxii. ;  Isa.  Ix. ;  Jer.  xxx.  and  xxxi. ;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  22-31  ;  Dan.  ii. 
34,  44,  etc.  For  the  world-Avide  influence  as  the  salt,  compare  Isa.  Ix. 
21-22;  Prov.  x.  11;  xi.  30;  xii.  12,  etc.  For  the  light,  compare  Prov. 
iv.  18  ;  Ps.  xxxvii.  6 ;  cxix.  105,  130 ;  Isa.  ix.  2 ;  Ix.  1-20,  etc. 

b.  The  teachings  of  the  Kingdom,  in  its  relations  to 
Jewish  Law  and  Life.     v.  17-vii.  6. 

(a.)  To  the  old  Jewish  law :  firsts  as  revealed  in  the 


116  MATTHEW,    THE    GOSPEL   FOR   THE   JEW. 

Old  Testament  Scriptures  (v.  17-19)  ;  secondly^  as  re- 
vealed in  the  doctrine  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  as 
given  by  the  literal  interpreter  (v.  21-32),  and  by  the 
liberal  interpreter  (v.  33-48). 

(b.)  To  the  Jewish  life,  as  seen  in  the  pattern  saints 
of  the  day  :  firsts  in  the  religious  life  (vi.  1-18)  ;  seco7idJy^ 
in  the  worldly  life  (vi.  19-34)  ;  thirdly^  in  the  conversa- 
tion (vii.  1-6). 

Proph.  Refs.  With  the  teaching  of  the  Lawgiver  concerning  the  mis- 
sion of  Messiah  and  the  higher  righteousness  demanded  in  tlie  kingdom  of 
heaven,  compare  such  prophecies  as  Isa.  xxviii.  16-18;  Dan.  ix.  24,  etc 
With  the  condemnation  of  the  literalist  and  theliberalist,  compare  the  Law 
as  given  in  Ex.  xx;  Isa.  v.  18-25;  Jer.  xiv.  13-16;  xxiii.  38-40,  etc 
With  the  contrast  with  the  Pharisee  righteousness,  compare  Ps.  li.  16,  17 
Isa.  Ivii.  15  ;  Ixvii.  1-4;  Jer.  vii.  1-28,  etc.  With  the  life  of  trust,  as  op 
posed  to  the  Pharisee  worldliness,  compare  Ps.  xxxiv.  10  ;  xxxvii.  3  ;  xxiii. 
and  the  various  enactments  requiring  the  Jews  to  hold  and  use  their  wealth 
as  stewards  of  Jehovah. 

c.  The  practical  Way  into  the  Kingdom,     vii.  7-27. 
(a.)  The  positive  directions.     Verses  7-14. 
(b.)   The   warning   against    the   two   chief    dangers. 
Verses  15-23. 

(c.)  The  final  urgent  exhortation.     Verses  24-27. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  teachings  concerning  the  way  of  life,  compare  Ps. 
xxiv.  3-5;  Prov.  viii.  17;  Isa.  xlv.  19;  lii.  13-15;  liii.  1-12;  Jer.  xxix. 
10-14,  etc.  For  the  fate  of  the  rejecters  of  God,  compare  Ps.  i.  4-6  ;  Dan. 
xii.  2,  etc. 

C.  In  his  establishment  of  his  divine  authority  to  set 
up  such  a  Kingdom  and  proclaim  its  Law,  —  as  shown  by 
three  series  of  miracles  brought  together  and  arranged  for 
the  purpose,     viii.  1-ix.  35. 

a.  First  series,  exhibiting  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  in 
his  relation  to  the  Old  Testament  Law.     viii.  1-18. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  special  prophecy  fulfilled,  compare  verse  17  with  Isa. 
liii.  4. 

b.  Second  series,  exhibiting  Jesus,  the  Messiah,  as  in 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  117 

himself  all-powerful,  and  as  claiming  absolute  authority, 
viii.  18-ix.  8. 

Proph.  Eefs.  With  "son  of  man,"  ch.  viii.  18,  compare  Dan.  vii.  13. 
With  "Son  of  God,"  ch.  viii.,  compare  Ps.  ii.  7.  AVith  the  absolute 
divine  authority,  ch.  ix.  2,  compare  the  authority  attributed  to  Messiah 
in  Ps.  ii ;  Ps.  ex. ;  and  throughout  the  Messianic  prophecies,  especially 
in  Isa.  ix.  6,  7. 

c.  Third  series,  exhibiting  Jesus,  the  gracious  Mes- 
siah, in  his  relations  to  lost  men,  —  showing  active  mercy 
and  requiring  active  faith,     ix.  9-35. 

Proph.  Refo.  With  his  character  as  Saviour  of  sinners,  ch.  ix.  10-13, 
compare  Hos.  vi.  6  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  33,  34  ;  Isa.  Hi.  53,  etc.  With  his  charac- 
ter as  the  Healer  and  Lord  of  life,  ch.  ix.  22,  25,  30,  35,  compare  Isa.  liii. 
4  ;  ix.  2,  etc.  With  Jesus  as  the  conqueror  of  the  demons  and  their  prince, 
verse  33,  compare  Gen.  iii.  15. 

Section  2.  Jesus  also  did  the  public  work,  and  bore 
the  public  character  of  the  Messiah,  in  his  labors,  as 
associated  with  the  Twelve  Apostles,  in  the  wider  proc- 
lamation of  the  coming  Kingdom  in  Galilee,  ix.  36-xvi. 
12. 

A.  In  the  choice,  preliminary  instruction,  and  mission 
of  the  Twelve,     ix.  36-x.  42.     This  embraces  :  — 

a.  The  occasion  of  the  call  and  mission,  —  the  spirit- 
ual destitution  of  Israel,  —  the  general  commission,  and 
the  catalogue  of  the  Twelve,     ix.  36-x.  4. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  prophetic  view  of  the  condition  of  Israel  and 
the  work  of  Messiah,  the  compassionate  Shepherd  for  the  lost  sheep,  espe- 
cially as  seen  in  ch.  ix.  36-38,  and  ch.  x.  1,  6-9,  compare  Isa.  liii.  6  ;  Jer. 
1.  6  ;  Ezek.  xxxiv.,  etc. 

h.  The  charge  to  the  Twelve,  or  the  law  of  associated 
effort  in  the  Kingdom,  and  their  exclusive  mission  to 
Israel,     x.  5-42.     Their  instructions  cover :  — 

(a.)  Their  work  in  preparation  for  the  Kingdom,  in 
heralding  the  coming  of  Jesus  to  the  various  cities  of 
Israel.     Verses  6-15. 

(b.)   Their  work  in  the  established  Kingdom,  or  from 


118  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL    FOR   THE   JEW. 

Pentecost  on :  firsts  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
verses  16-23  ;  and,  secondly^  to  the  end  of  time,  verses 
24-42. 

Proph.  Eefs.  For  general  character  of  Messiah's  work,  verses  6-9,  com- 
pare Isa.  liii.  6,  etc.,  as  just  given.  For  the  enmity  shown  to  Mes.siah  and 
his  followers,  compare  the  bruising  of  his  heel  by  Satan,  foretold  in  the 
ProtevangeHum ;  Gen.  iii.  15 ;  Ps.  ii.  1-3 ;  Isa.  liii.  2,  3,  etc.  For  the 
social  estrangement  resulting,  verses  34-39,  compare  Mic.  vii.  6 ;  Exod. 
xxxii.  26-29. 

B.  In  the  awakening  of  doubt  of  his  Messiahship,  and 
consequent  opposition,  by  the  fuller  revelation  of  the  ex- 
clusively spiritual  character  of  his  Kingdom.  ,  xi.  1-xii. 
50. 

The  antagonism  as  presented  by  Matthew,  includes  :  — 
a.  The  apparent  expression,  on  the  part  of  John  the 
Baptist  and  his  followers,  of  doubt  of  the  Messiahship 
of  Jesus,  —  giving  Jesus  occasion  to  present  his  cre- 
dentials as  the  Messiah  ;  to  vindicate  the  faith  and  di- 
vine mission  of  his  forerunner  ;  to  judge  that  childish 
generation,  and  the  cities  in  which  his  mighty  works  had 
been  done ;  to  claim  the  divine  authority  and  extend  the 
gracious  invitation  of  Messiah,     xi.  1-30. 

Proph.  Befs,  Compare  verse  5  with  Isa.  liii.  4  ;  xxxv.  5-10;  viii.  14,  15. 
Compare  verses  20-24  with  Isa.  i.,  etc.  Compare  the  gracious  invitation, 
verses  28-30,  with  Isa.  xlv.  22;  Iv.  1-3,  etc. 

h.  The  appearance  of  open  opposition,     xii.  1-45. 

(a.)  Unorganized,  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  of  Israel, 
for  a  righteous  and  merciful  act.     Verses  1-13. 

(b.)  Organized,  by  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes,  result- 
ing in  the  withdrawal  and  quiet  work  of  Jesus.  Verses 
14-45. 

c.  The  interference  of  his  relatives,  whose  claims  he 
rejects  for  higher,     xii.  46-50. 

Proph.  Rofs.  Compare  the  acts  which  awaken  the  opposition,  ch.  xii. 
1,  9-13,  with  1  Sam.  xxi.  3-6;  Ex.  xxix.  32,  33;  Lev.  viii.  31 ;  xxiv.  9; 
Num.  xxviii.  9,  10;  Hos.  vi.  6.     See,  also,  Ex.  xxiii.  4,  5;  Deut.  xxii. 


TPIE   GENERAL   PLAN.  119 

4.     For  the  quiet  withdrawal  and  beneficent  work,  verses  15-21,  see  Isa. 
xlii.  1-4. 

C.  In  his  consequent  substitution  of  parabolic  for  plain 
teaching,  in  presenting  the  mystery  of  the  opposition  to 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,     xiii.  1-53. 

The  parables  of  the  Kingdom  include :  — 
a.  Four  parables  to  the  people,  with  explanations  to 
the  disciples. 

h.  Three  parables  to  the  disciples  alone. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  Messianic  prophecy  fulfilled  in  this  phase  of 
the  work  of  Jesus,  compare  verses  10-16  with  Isa.  v.  4-7;  vi.  9,  10; 
Ezek.  xii.  2. 

D.  In  the  culmination  of  the  opposition  in  his  rejec- 
tion by  the  representatives  of  all  the  leading  classes, 
xiii.  54-xvi.  12.  The  exhibition  of  this  rejection  in- 
cludes:— 

a.  His  rejection  by  the  synagogue  of  Nazaretb,  on 
account  of  his  obscure  origin,  —  resulting  in  the  with- 
drawal of  his  works  of  power,     xiii.  54-58. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  obscurity  of  Messiah,  compare  Ps.  xxii.  6  ;  Ixix. 
7,  12;  Is.  xlix.  7;  liii.,  etc. 

b.  His  rejection  as  the  heavenly  King  by  Herod  the 
earthly  king,  —  resulting  in  his  withdrawal,  and  fur- 
nishing the  credentials  of  the  Messiah,  in  his  character 
and  works,     xiv.  1-36. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  proof  that  Jesus,  in  contrast  with  Herod,  appears  in 
the  true  character  of  Messiah,  compare  Isa.  vii.  14-25 ;  ix.  1-3 ;  xi.  1-5 ; 
Mic.  V.  1-5;  Jer.  xxiii.  1-6. 

c.  His  rejection  by  the  Jerusalem  Scribes  and  Phar- 
isees, the  theological  authorities  and  models,  —  resulting 
in  his  exposing  their  hypocrisy  and  wickedness  ;  and  his 
withdrawal  into  the  Gentile  world,  where  he  furnishes 
anew  the  credentials  of  the  Messiah,  the  deliverer  of  the 
world.     XV.  1-39. 

Proph.  Refs.  With  the  rejection,  verses  7-9,  compare  Isa.  xxix.  13. 
With  his  work  iu  his  retirement,  verses  21-39,  compare  the  prophecies 


120  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   JEW. 

of  blessing  to  the  Gentiles  through  Messiah,  in  Gen.  xii.  3 ;  Isa.  xi.  10;  xlii. 
6,  etc. 

d.  His  rejection  by  the  Galilee  Pharisees  and  Sad- 
ducees,  —  the  true  Head  of  the  Theocracy  by  the  earthly 
heads,  —  resulting  in  withdrawal,  and  his  condemnation 
of  them.     xvi.  1-12. 

Proph.  Refs.     On  the  rejection  compare  with  the  same  Scriptures  as  in 
the  rejection  by  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees. 

PAET  n. 

The  Distinct  and  Public  Claim  of  Messiahship. 
Matthew  shows  that,  after  the  rejection  and  the  retire- 
ment from  the  public  ministry  in  Galilee,  Jesus  openly 
claimed  to  be  the  Messiah,  and  abundantly  proved  the 
righteousness  of  his  claim  both  to  his  disciples  and  to  the 
people,     xvi.  13-xxiii.  39. 

Section  1.  Jesus  did  this  with  the  Twelve,  while  cor- 
recting their  false  Jewish  views  of  his  priestly  character 
and  of  his  kingdom,     xvi.  13-xx.  28. 

A.  In  calling  forth  their  explicit  confession  of  his 
Messiahship  and  giving  them  authority  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  (the  Church),  —  thus  preparing  them  for  the 
lesson  of  the  suffering  and  conquering  Messiah,  xvi. 
13-20. 

Proph.  Refs.    For  prophecies  of  the  authority  here  claimed,  see  Ps.  ii. 
6  ;  xlv.  6,  7  ;  Ixxii.  8-11  ;  Isa.  ix. ;  Mic.  v.  1-5  ;  Dan.  ii.  44,  etc. 

B.  In  teaching  in  its  first  form,  the  lesson  of  his  sac- 
rificial death  at  the  hands  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim^  and 
of  his  resurrection,  —  and  then  confirming  their  faith 
anew.     xvi.  21-xvii.   21.     This  includes  :  — 

a.  The  announcement  of  the  death  and  its  unwilling 
reception,     xvi.  21-28. 

h.  The  twofold  confirmation  of  their  faith,  in  the 
transfiguration  and  in  the  healing  of  the  epileptic  demo- 
niac,    xvii.  1--21. 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  121 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  doctrine  of  the  suffering  Messiah,  compare  all 
the  sacrificial  system  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  such  passages  as  Isa.  liii. 
4-10;  Dan.  ix.  26,  etc.  For  the  rejection  by  Israel,  see  Isa.  xlix.  7,  etc. 
For  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  see  Ps.  xvi.  10. 

C.  In  teaching,  in  its  second  form,  the  lesson  of  his 
death,  —  through  betrayal  by  his  own  followers^  —  and 
then  unfolding  the  true  spiritual  relations  of  his  followers 
in  his  kingdom,  xvii.  22-xx.  16.  This  comprehends  the 
unfolding  of,  — 

a.  The  church  relations  and  duties,  —  comprising  the 
relation  to  the  old  religion  and  to  worldly  supremacy,  and 
the  law  of  church  censure  and  of  brotherly  forgiveness, 
xvii.  24-xviii.  35. 

b.  The  earthly  relations  and  duties,  —  comprising 
those  arising  out  of  the  family  and  earthly  riches  in  their 
subordination  to  the  heavenly  mission,     xix.  1-xx.  16. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  prophecy  of  the  betrayal  of  Messiah  by  his  omti 
friends,  compare  Ps.  xli.  9,  witli  John  xiii.  18.  See  also  Ps.  Iv.  12-14, 
etc.  For  the  unworldly  character  of  the  kingdom  of  Messiah,  compare 
references  under  ch.  v.  3-16. 

D.  In  teaching,  in  its  third  form,  the  lesson  of  his 
death,  —  as  a  ransom  for  many,  at  the  hands  of  the 
Roman  rulers^  —  and  then  checking  the  rising  spirit  of 
worldly  ambition,     xx.  17-28. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  prophecies  of  the  combination  of  many  classes  against 
Messiah,  see  Ps.  xxii.,  etc.  For  the  special  rage  of  the  Gentiles,  or  heathen, 
see  Ps.  ii.  1,  in  connection  with  Acts  iv.  25.  For  the  doctrine  of  the  ran- 
som, compare  Ex.  xxi.  30 ;  Prov.  xiii.  8  ;  Isa.  liii.  5. 

Section  2.  Jesus  made  this  public  claim  before  the 
people  also,  at  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  the  great  King,  — 
correcting  the  false  Jewish  notions  and  establishing  his 
Messiahship  by  miracles  performed  in  the  Temple  itself, 
xx.  29-xxiii.  39.     This  includes  :  — 

A.  The  public  claim  to  be  the  son  of  David,  in  Jeri- 
cho ;    the  triumphal  entry  into  the  city  of   David ;  the 


122       MATTHEW,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

assumption  of   Messianic  authority  and   performance  of 
Messianic  works  in  the  Temple,     xx.  29-xxi.  17. 

Propli.  Rffs.  With  the  healing  of  the  hlind  men,  ch.  xx,  34,  compare 
Isa.  XXXV.  5-10.  With  the  triumphal  entry,  compare  Zech.  ix.  9;  Ps. 
cxviii.  24-26.  With  the  cleansing  of  the  temple,  Isa.  Ivi.  7  ;  Jer.  vii.  11. 
With  the  miraculous  credentials  of  Messiah,  ch.  xxi.  14  ;  Isa.  xxxv.  5-10. 
With  the  praises  of  the  children,  Ps.  viii.  2. 

B.  The  public  conflict,  defensive  and  offensive,  as  Mes- 
siah, with  the  hardened  Jewish  officials,  xxi.  18-xxiii. 
39.     This  comprises  :  — 

a.  The  introductor}^  sign  of  the  nation's  fate,  in  the 
cursing  of  the  barren  fig-tree.     xxi.  18-22. 

Proph.  Refs.  Compare  the  symbolic  curse  with  that  of  Israel  in  Isa. 
V.  4-10. 

h.  The  public  conflict  with  the  Sanhedrim,  defensive 
and  offensive,  ending  in  their  discomfiture  and  condem- 
nation,    xxi.  23-xxii.  14. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  prophecy  of  the  rejection  of  Messiah,  compare  ch. 
xxi.  42-44,  with  Ps.  cxviii.  22,  23  ;  also  with  such  passages  as  Ps.  ii.  9 ; 
xxi.  8,  9  ;  Isa.  Ix.  12;  Dan.  ii.  34,  35,44,45.  For  the  foreshadowed  re- 
jection of  the  nation,  ch.  xxii.  7-14,  compare  Dan.  ix.  26;  Zech.  xiv.  1,  2. 

c.  The  public  conflict,  defensive  and  offensive,  with  the 
leading  classes  of  the  nation,  as  tools  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
ending  in  the  judgment  and  casting  off  of  themselves 
and  the  nation,     xxii.  15-xxiii.  39. 

Proph.  Refs.  With  the  argument  against  the  Sadducees,  compare  Dent. 
XXV.  5  ;  Exod.  iii.  6  ;  with  that  against  the  lawyer,  Deut.  vi.  5  ;  Lev.  xix. 
18  ;  with  the  discomfiture  of  the  Pharisees,  Ps.  ex.  1.  With  the  defining 
of  the  position  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  compare  Neh.  viii.  4-8  ;  with 
the  curse,  Mai.  ii.  7-9 ;  with  the  judgment  denounced  upon  Jerusalem, 
Jer.  xxii.  5 ;  Hos.  iii.  4,  5. 

PAET  ni. 

The  Sacrifice  of  Messiah  the  Priest.  Matthew  dem- 
onstrates that,  after  his  public  rejection  by  the  Jews, 
Jesus  fully  established  his  claim  to  be  the  Messiah,  by 
fulfilling  the  ^Messianic  types  and  prophecies  in  laying  the 


THE    GENERAL   PLAN.  123 

foundation   for    the   Kingdom   of    Heaven   by   his   own 
priestly  sacrifice,     xxiv.  1-xxvii.  66. 

Section  1.  He  represents  Jesus  as  beginning  his  work, 
as  the  rejected  and  suffering  Messiah,  by  preparing  his 
disciples  for  his  sacrificial  death,     xxiv.  1-xxv.  46. 

A.  In  unfolding  the  true  doctrine  of  his  coming  in 
glory,  and  of  the  end  of  the  existing  order  of  things, 
xxiv.  1-43. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  fact  of  a  coming  judgment,  compare  ch.  xxiv.  2, 
with  1  Kings  ix.  7-9;  Jer.  xxvi.  18;  Mic.  iii.  12.  For  the  time,  compare 
ch.  xxiv.  15,  with  Dan.  ix.  27  ;  xi.  31;  xii.  11.  For  the  suddenness  of 
Messiah's  coming,  compare  ch.  xxiv.  27,  with  Zech.  ix.  14.  For  the  great 
events  attending,  compare  ch.  xxiv.  29-31,  with  Isa.  xiii.  9,  10;  Joel  ii. 
10,  30,  31  ;  Amos  v.  20 ;  viii.  9;  Dan.  vii.  13,  14;  Zech.  xii.  10-12. 

B.  In  teaching  them  the  true  posture  of  his  followers 
in  waiting  for  his  coming,  and  in  describing  that  coming 
in  glory  to  the  judgment  of  the  world,    xxiv.  44-xxv.  46. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  the  terribleness  of  the  final  coming  to  judgment,  ch. 
XXV.  31-46,  compare  Ps.  i.  5  ;  Isa.  xxiv.  21-23  ;  Dan.  xii.  1,  2,  etc. 

Section  2.  Matthew  represents  Jesus  as  consummat- 
ing his  work,  as  the  rejected  and  suffering  Messiah,  by 
his  priestly  offering  up  of  himself  as  the  fulfillment  of 
the  Law  and  the  Prophets,     xxvi.  1-xxxvii.  QQ. 

A.  In  preparing  for  the  sacrifice  and  in  putting  himself 
in  the  place  of  the  Paschal  lamb ;  and  in  overcoming  the 
terrors  of  death,     xxvi.  1-46. 

Proph.  Refs.  With  the  conspiracy  of  the  rulers,  ch.  xxvi.  3,  compare 
Ps.  ii.  With  the  price  of  betrayal,  verses  14,  15,  compare  Ex.  xxi.  32; 
Zech.  xi.  12,  13.  With  the  pointing  out  of  the  traitor,  verses  20-23,  com- 
pare Ps.  xii.  9.  With  the  predicted  death  as  Messiah,  A-erse  24,  compare 
Gen.  iii.  15;  Ps.  xxii. ;  Isa.  liii. ;  Dan.  ix.  26.  With  the  assumption  of 
the  place  of  the  lamb  in  the  Passover,  verses  26-29,  compare  Ex.  xii.  21-29, 
etc.  With  the  predicted  forsaking  by  the  disciples,  verses  30-32,  compare 
Zech.  xiii.  7.  With  the  experience  in  Gethsemane,  verses  36-46,  compare 
Ps.  Ixix.  20  ;  Isa.  liii.  3,  4 ;  Lam.  i.  12,  etc. 

B.  In  his  betrayal  by  Judas,  and  in  his  trial  and  con- 
demnation before  the  Sanhedrim  and  before  Pilate,  —  or 


124  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

as   tlie   Messianic    Priest  in  the  power  of  his   enemies. 
XX vi.  47-xxvii.  26. 

Proph.  Refs.  For  prophecies  of  the  betrayal,  with  ch.  xxvi.  47-50,  com- 
pare Isa.  xlix.  7  ;  Ps.  xli.  9,  etc.  With  the  unresisting  surrender,  verses 
51-54,  compare  Isa.  liii.  7,  etc.  For  the  general  prophecy  fulfilled,  verse 
56,  see  Isa.  liii. ;  Dan.  ix.  26,  etc.  With  the  bringing  of  false  witnesses, 
ch.  xxvi.  59-61,  compare  Ps.  xxvii.  12;  xxxv.  11.  With  the  silence  of 
Jesus,  verses  62,  63,  Isa.  liii.  7 ;  with  the  oath  to  the  high  priest,  and  the 
predicted  coming,  verses  63,  64,  Dan.  vii.  13,  14;  with  the  abuse,  verses 
67,  68,  Isa.  1.  6  ;  with  the  remorse  and  death  of  Judas,  ch.  xxvii.  3-10, 
Zech.  xi.  13.  With  the  experience  before  Pilate,  ch.  xxvii.  11-26,  com- 
pare Isa.  liii.  7,  9,  11,  etc. 

C.  In  his  experience  in  the  hands  of  his  executioners, 
as  the  Messiah  sacrificed  for  sin,  —  mocked,  crucified, 
dead,  and  buried,     xxvii.  27-66. 

Proph.  Refs.  With  the  experience  in  the  hands  of  his  executioners, 
compare  Isa.  liii. ;  Ps.  xxii. ;  Dan.  xii.  2,  etc. 

CONCLUSIOIT. 

The  Triumph  of  Messiah  the  Saviour  and  King. 
Matthew  shows  in  conchision  that  Jesus,  after  his  death, 
fully  established  his  claim  to  the  Messiahship,  as  the 
risen  Loi'd  and  Redeemer,     xxviii.  1-20. 

Section  1.  By  his  rising  from  the  dead  on  the  third 
day,  and  furnishing  abundant  evidence,  private  and  ofl5- 
cial,  of  his  resurrection,     xxviii.  1-15. 

Proph.  Refs.  With  the  resurrection,  verses  1-4,  compare  Ps.  xvi.  8-11 ; 
Dan.  X.  6  ;  and  Christ's  own  predictions. 

Section  2.  By  his  formal  assumption  of  Messianic  au- 
thority, and  by  sending  forth  his  disciples  to  the  spiritual 
conquest  of  the  Avorld.     xxviii.  16-20. 

Proph.  Refs.  With  the  assumption  of  Messianic  authority,  compare 
Ps.  ii.  6-9  ;  xxii.  27,  28;  xlv.  6,  7  ;  Ixxii. ;  ex.;  Isa.  ix.  6,  7  ;  xi.  1-10; 
Dan.  ii.  44,  45  ;  vii.  27,  etc. 


THE   CENTRAL  IDEA.  125 


SECTION   11. 

THE   JEWISH   ADAPTATION   IN   THE    CENTKAL   IDEA   OF 
THE   FIRST    GOSPEL. 

The  outline,  as  already  given,  is  its  own  witness  that 
the  first  Gospel  was  prepared  by  Matthew  for  the  Jew. 
It  also  opens  the  way  for  showing  how  the  central  idea 
and  general  drift  of  the  Gospel  confirm  the  historical  tes- 
timony touching  the  Jewish  aim  of  the  Evangelist. 

I.   The   Central  Idea. 

A  single  glance  makes  it  clear  that  Matthew  seizes 
upon  the  one  idea  of  the  Jewish  system  which  was  most 
prominent  in  the  Jewish  mind  of  that  age.  He  gives  us 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  the  Messiah  of  the  Prophets. 

The  Messiah.  His  one  subject,  always  and  every- 
where, is,  Jesus  is  the  Messiah.  He  opens  with  the 
origin  of  Jesus,  the  Messiah,  and  closes  with  his  assump- 
tion of  the  universal  authority  of  the  Messiah,  and  from 
the  beginning  to  the  close  never  for  a  moment  parts  com- 
pany with  the  Messianic  idea. 

It  is  patent  to  the  reader  that  the  first  Gospel  is  that 
of  the  Messianic  royalty  of  Jesus.  It  seizes  upon  the 
regal  idea,  as  the  one  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  the  race, 
and  takes  advantage  of  it  to  open  the  way  for  the  pres- 
entation of  Jesus,  under  the  most  favorable  aspect,  to 
the  Jewish  soul.  Its  opening  genealogy  is  that  of  Jesus, 
the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  David  (i.  1).  He  is  the  de- 
scendant of  Joseph,  the  son  and  heir  of  David  (i.  20). 
The  Magi  inquire,  ''  Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of 
the  Jews  ?  "  (ii.  2).  John  the  Baptist  announces  him  as 
the  founder  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  (iii.  2).  Jesus 
himself  begins  and  continues  Avith  the  proclamation  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  (iv.  17  ;  v.  3,  etc.).  Jesus  is  the 
Messiah,  the  King,  throughout  the  Gospel. 


126  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

But  the  Evangelist  takes  special  pains,  as  will  subse- 
quently appear  more  fully,  to  correct  the  false  Jewish 
notions,  at  that  day  so  prevalent,  concerning  the  king- 
dom of  Messiah,  and  to  bring  into  their  true  place  and 
rightful  prominence  the  more  important  elements  of  his 
prophetic  and  priestly  character,  which  had  been  so  gen- 
erally lost  out  of  view.  He  accordingly  exhibits  the 
kingdom  not  as  a  temporal  one,  like  the  Roman  Empire, 
but  as  theocratic,  or  as  a  spiritual  reign  of  God  himself, 
in  the  person  of  Messiah,  in  the  hearts  of  men  (v.  3-12; 
xii.  1-52,  etc.).  The  prophetic  glory  of  the  Messiah  is 
seen,  as  Jesus  speaks  for  God  the  grand  truths  of  this 
spiritual  kingdom,  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  in  the 
parables,  and  in  the  other  chief  discourses,  and  as  he  fore- 
tells the  events  of  the  future,  in  the  prophecies  of  his 
own  death  and  in  the  revelation  of  the  last  things  (ch. 
xxiv.).  The  priestly  character  of  the  Messiah  is  given 
its  true  prominence  by  various  teachings  throughout  the 
Gospel,  but  especially  by  the  three  remarkable  prophe- 
cies of  his  death,  uttered  during  the  period  given  to  the 
instruction  of  his  disciples  in  the  much  needed  lesson  of 
his  sufferings  and  sacrifice  (xvi.  21 ;  xvii.  22,  23  ;  xx. 
17—19),  and  in  his  experience  in  his  trial,  condemnation, 
and  death  for  the  ransom  of  the  world. 

It  should  likewise  be  remarked  that  in  pursuing  his 
one  central  theme,  the  Evangelist  never  fails  to  take  into 
account  and  attach  due  weight  to  the  other  ideas  peculiar 
to  the  Jews.  He  regards  them  as  the  chosen  people, 
their  religion  as  the  true  world-religion,  its  forms  as  the 
only  divine  religious  forms,  and  its  promise  of  Messiah 
addressed  first  of  all  to  the  Jews.  Every  diligent  reader 
of  his  Gospel  will  not  fail  to  discern  evidence  of  the  con- 
stant aim  of  Matthew,  while  presenting  his  main  theme, 
to  press  all  these  truths  upon  the  attention,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  correct  the  erroneous  and  distorted  views, 
which,  as  already  seen,  had  arisen  out  of  them. 


THE    CENTRAL   IDEA.  127 

Use  of  Prophecy.  Out  of  bis  single  central  theme, 
so  steadily  pursued,  arises  Matthew's  peculiar  use  of  the 
prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,  so  in  contrast  with  the 
usage  of  the  other  Evangelists. 

His  references  to  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  while  more 
numerous  than  in  all  the  other  Gospels,  are  not,  as  in 
them,  merely  incidental,  or  for  the  sake  of  giving  the 
knowledge  of  some  doctrine  involved,  but  rather  to  fur- 
nish the  basis  for  the  entire  argument  and  to  correct  the 
practical  errors  into  which  the  Jews  had  fallen. 

Mark  has  perhaps,  less  than  a  score  of  such  references, 
almost  all  of  which  are  general.  But  three  of  them,  at 
the  most,  are  properly  fulfillments  of  prophecy  —  Mark  i. 
2  ;  i.  3 ;  xv.  28,  —  and  only  the  last  of  the  three  is  dis- 
tinctly presented  as  such.^ 

Luke  has  perhaps  thirty  references  or  allusions  to  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures.  Most  of  these  are  simple  in- 
cidental citations  of  fact  or  law.  The  allusions  to  proph- 
ecy are  given  in  the  discourses  embodied  in  the  Gospel, 
—  as  in  that  of  the  angel  (i.  IT)  ;  of  Mary  (i.  55^  ;  of 
Zacharias  (i.  69-75)  ;  of  Simeon  (ii.  32)  ;  in  those  of 
Jesus  (iv.  17-21 ;  vii.  22  ;  xxiv.  25-28,  45-48).  The 
argument  of  the  book  does  not  at  all  depend  either  upon 
the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  or  upon  the  fulfillment  of 
prophecy.2 

John  has  twenty  or  more  references  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures.  These  generally  take  for  granted  that 
the  Church  is  acquainted  with  the  revelation  of  the  Old 

1  The  references  to  prophecy  in  the  Gospel  according  to  Mark,  are  as 
follows  :  ch.  i.  2,  3,  15  ;  ch.  ii.  25,  26  ;  ch.  ix.  12,  13  ;  ch.  x.  4,  19  ;  ch.  xi. 
17  ;  ch.  xii.  10,  19,  26,  29,  36  ;  ch.  xiii.  14  ;  ch.  xiv.  27  ;  ch.  xv.  28. 

2  The  referencfs  to  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  iu  the  Gospel  according 
to  Luke,  are  as  follows  :  ch.i.  17,  55,  69-75  ;  ch.  iv.  4,  8,  10,  12, 17-21  ;  ch. 
V.  14  ;  ch.  vi.  2-5,  6-10  ;  ch.  vii.  22  ;  ch.  x.  26-28  ;  ch.  xi.  29  ;  ch.  xiii.  14  ; 
ch.  xiv.  1-5  ;  ch.  xvi.  16-18  ;  ch.  xviii.  20,  21,  31  ;  ch.  xix.  46  ;  ch.  xx.  17, 
28,  37,  38,  42,  43  ;  ch.  xxi.  22 ;  ch.  xxii.  37  ;  ch.  xxiv.  25-27,  45-48. 


128       MATTHEW,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

Testament.  In  the  first  half  of  the  Gospel,  the  refer- 
ences are  chiefly  incidental  and  confined  to  fact  and  law, 
—  the  words  of  the  Baptist  (i.  23)  being  an  exception. 
In  the  second  half,  in  which  the  teaching  of  Jesus  in  con- 
nection with  his  death  is  presented  in  its  relations  to  the 
Christian  life,  all  the  references  are  occasioned  by  direct 
fulfillment  of  Messianic  prophecies,  well  known  to  those 
who  first  heard  these  discourses  of  our  Lord,  and  familiar 
to  all  intelligent  Christians  in  all  ages.  The  main  argu- 
ment of  the  Gospel  does  not,  however,  at  all  turn  upon 
them  as  prophecies,  but  they  are  mainly  introduced  in 
order  to  bring  out  some  hidden  spiritual  meaning,  not 
brought  out  in  Matthew  and  not  needed  for  the  purposes 
contemplated  by  him  in  his  Gospel.^ 

Matthew,  on  the  other  hand,  as  has  already  been 
shown,  rests  his  Gospel  entirely  upon  a  basis  of  Old 
Testament  revelation.  He  presents  one  continued  com- 
parison of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the  Messiah  of  the 
Prophets,  a  comparison  which  could  not  fail  to  have  mar- 
velous convincing  power  with  any  candid  Jew.  His 
argument  is  nothing,  and  his  Gospel  almost  unintelligible 
without  this,  —  in  short,  the  Old  Testament  doctrine  of 
the  Messiah,  as  announced  in  the  Protevangelium,  in  the 
opening  of  Genesis,  and  unfolded  through  all  the  ages 
till  the  final  words  of  Malachi,  is  the  only  key  to  the 
first  Gospel. 

II.   The  General  Drift, 

The  influence  of  the  central  theme  of  the  Evangelist 
is  everywhere  manifest  in  the  general  drift  of  his  Gospel, 
so  different  from  that  of  the  other  Gospels. 

1  The  references  to  the  Old  Testament  Scriptui'es,  in  the  Gospel  accord- 
inn:  to  John,  are  as  follows:  ch.  i.  '23;  eh.  ii.  17  ;  eh.  v.  9,  10;  ch.  vi.  14, 
31,  45 ;  ch.  vii.  22,  23,  38,  42  ;  ch.  viii.  5,  17  ;  ch.  x.  34,  35  ;  ch.  xii.  14-16, 
34,  38,  39-41  ;  ch.  xiii.  18 ;  ch.  xv.  25 ;  ch.  xix.  24,  28,  36,  37. 


THE   CENTRAL   IDEA.  129 

To  follow  tlie  outward  form,  the  Gospel  opens  with 
the  origin  and  preparation  of  Jesus  for  the  work  of  Mes- 
siah, and  his  induction  into  the  office  of  Messiah.  Part 
First  presents  the  public  proclamation  by  Jesns  as  Mes- 
siah of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  first  by  himself  alone, 
and  afterward  as  associated  with  the  twelve  Apostles. 
Part  Second  exhibits  his  public  claim  to  be  the  Messiah, 
made  and  confirmed  first  to  the  Twelve  and  then  to  the 
people  at  large.  Part  Third  sets  forth  his  sufferings  and 
death  as  the  Messiah,  first  announced  as  being  at  hand, 
and  then  prepared  for  and  endured  as  a  ransom  for  many. 
The  Conclusion  exhibits  the  fact  and  proof  of  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  as  Messiah  from  the  dead,  and  his  as- 
sumption of  the  royal  Messianic  prerogatives. 

To  follow  the  inward  drift  of  thought,  the  Gospel 
takes  the  life  of  Jesus  as  it  was  lived  on  earth,  and  his 
character  as  it  actually  appeared,  and  places  them  along- 
side the  life  and  character  of  the  Messiah  as  sketched  in 
the  Prophets,  the  historic  by  the  side  of  the  prophetic, 
that  the  two  may  appear  in  their  marvelous  unity  and 
in  their  perfect  identity.  The  greatness  of  the  Prophet 
like  unto  Moses  is  seen  in  the  Nazarene,  as  he  speaks  for 
God  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
and  foretells  its  future.  The  grandeur  of  the  suffering 
Servant  of  Jehovah,  ''  despised  and  rejected  of  men," 
"  wounded  for  our  transgressions,"  shines  through  all  his 
words  and  acts  that  culminate  in  his  vicarious  death  on 
Calvary.  The  sublimity  of  the  King  of  whom  Jehovah 
said,  "  I  have  set  my  King  on  my  holy  hill  of  Zion,"  ap- 
pears in  the  Son  of  David,  as  he  forms  and  gives  law  to 
a  world-wide  spiritual  society,  an  everlasting  state,  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  Jesus  and  the  Messiah  are  demon- 
strated to  be  in  all  respects  one  and  the  same. 

All  this  was  just  what  was  needed  to  commend  him 
as  a  Saviour   to  the  Jews.     It  was  a  true  view  of  the 


130  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

prophet  of  Nazareth,  for  whatever  Jesus  may  have  been 
besides,  he  was  also  and  primarily  the  Messiah,  the  high- 
est development  of  Judaism,  —  humanly  speaking,  the 
ideal  Jew.  He  was  not  merely  the  accomplishment  of 
Hebrew  prophecy  in  an  external  sense,  but  the  highest 
expression  of  all  that  was  good  in  Judaism  —  the  inher- 
itor of  whatever  moral  wisdom,  whatever  spiritual  genius, 
survived  in  it.^  This  Jesus,  at  once  the  greatest  among 
Jews,  and  the  finisher  of  Judaism  —  the  Messiah  —  is 
the  Jesus  represented  by  Matthew. 

SECTION  III. 

THE  JEWISH  ADAPTATtON  IX  THE   OMISSIONS  AND  AD- 
DITIONS   OF   THE   rmST   GOSPEL. 

The  Jewish  design  of  the  first  Gospel  is  still  further 
manifest  both  from  what  the  Evangelist  omits  of  what  is 
found  in  the  other  Gospels  and  from  what  he  adds  to 
what  is  found  in  them. 

I.   The  Omissions  of  the  First  Grospel. 

Matthew,  in  writing  for  the  Jew,  characteristically 
omits,  as  useless  for  his  purpose,  whatever  is  distinctively 
Roman,  Greek,  or  Christian,  in  the  presentation  of  the 
Gospel. 

In  General.  The  careful  reader  will  note  the  entire 
absence  of  such  explanations  of  Jewish  customs,  as  that 
which  Mark  gives  of  the  religious  washing  of  the  hands 
before  eating,  and  of  ''  the  washing  of  cups,  and  pots, 
brazen  vessels,  and  of  tables  "  (Mark  vii.  2-5),  which 
were  necessary  for  the  stranger  of  Roman  birth.  There 
are  no  such  explanations  of  Jewish  topography,  as  that 
which  Luke  gives  of  the  "  village  called  Emmaus,  which 
was  from  Jerusalem  about  threescore  furlongs  "  (Luke 
1  Principal  Tulloch,  Lectures  on  Re'nan's  'Vie  de  J€sus.' 


OMISSIONS   AND   ADDITIONS.  131 

xxiv.  13),  and  which  were  necessary  to  the  strangers 
of  Greek  birth  and  philosophic  turn  of  mind.  There  is 
an  absence  of  such  explanations  of  Jewish  facts,  as  that 
which  John  gives  of  the  enmity  of  the  Jews  to  the  Sa- 
maritans (John  iv.  4),  and  which  were  necessary  for  the 
Christians  over  the  world  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  the  desolation  of  Judsea.  For  the  Jew,  at  home 
in  Jerusalem,  or  often  visiting  it,  there  was,  at  the  date 
of  Matthew's  writing,  no  need  of  aiiy  of  these  things. 

From  Mark.  The  same  careful  attention  will  reveal 
the  fact  that  the  first  Gospel  uniformly  omits  those  vivid 
details  and  scenic  representations  of  events,  which  will  be 
seen  to  abound  in  and  to  characterize  the  second  Gospel, 
and  which  fitted  it  for  the  Roman,  the  man  of  power  and 
action. 

From  Luke.  Still  more  marked  is  the  omission  of 
those  eminently  human  features,  in  which  Luke's  Gospel 
will  be  seen  to  abound  ;  and  of  the  facts  of  the  ministry 
of  Jesus  in  Perasa,  with  those  universal  aspects  and  rela- 
tions of  Christ's  teachings  and  work,  which  furnish  so 
large  a  portion  of  the  third  Gospel  (ix.  51-xviii.  30), 
features  and  facts  which  fitted  that  Gospel  for  the  Greek, 
the  man  whose  ideal  was  the  perfect  man  of  human  de- 
velopment, and  who  was  the  representative  of  universal 
humanity.  To  one  who  duly  considers  this  omission  by 
Matthew  of  what  constitutes  the  very  heart  of  Luke's 
Gospel,  and  of  what  has  been  to  mankind  at  large  the 
most  precious  of  all  the  teachings  of  the  first  three  Gos- 
pels, it  will  never  cease  to  be  regarded  as  a  marvelous 
thing,  and  a  thing  which  can  be  explained  only  by  the 
consideration  that  the  one  Evangelist  wrote  for  the  Jew, 
the  man  of  the  covenant  and  of  prophecy,  and  the  other 
for  the  Greek,  the  man  of  world-wide  sympathies  and 
aspirations. 

From  John.     Most  remarkable  of  all  is  the  absence 


132  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

of  the  ministry  in  Judaea,  to  the  true  Israel,  and  those 
preeminently  spiritual  discourses  which  constitute  the 
greater  part  of  the  fourth  Gospel,  and  which  fitted  it  for 
the  Christian,  the  man  already  united  to  Christ  by  a 
living  faith.  One  might  at  first  suppose  that  these  teach- 
ings were  exactly  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  Jewish  race, 
since  they  were  addressed  directly  to  those  who  belonged 
to  that  race.  But  more  careful  consideration  will  make 
it  plain  that,  as  they  were  in  the  main  addressed  to  that 
small  class  of  Jews  who  held  the  advanced  ground  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  Messiah,  and  were  possessed  of  more  or 
less  of  the  true  spiritual  insight,  so  they  could  have 
proved  to  the  mass  of  the  Jews  only  a  stumbling-block, 
and  were  therefore  fitted  to  form  a  part  of  that  Gospel 
only  which  was  prepared  by  John  distinctively  for  the 
Christian. 

All  these  things,  had  Matthew  embodied  them  in  his 
Gospel,  would  have  done  little  toward  commending  Jesus 
to  the  attention  and  interest  of  the  mass  of  the  Jews, 
who  were  waiting  for  the  advent  of  the  Messiah  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  holding  peculiarly  Jewish  and  unspiritual 
views  regarding  the  nature  of  his  person,  character,  and 
coming.  They  could,  therefore,  properly  have  no  place 
in  a  Gospel  for  the  Jews. 

But  notwithstanding  all  these  omissions,  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  guarded  the  first  Gospel  against  being  justly 
charged  with  presenting  Jesus  as  exclusively  the  Saviour 
of  the  Jews. 

He  is  the  descendant  of  Abraham,  but  four  Gentile 
women  find  place  in  the  genealogy  ;  Tamar  of  Timnath  ; 
Rahab  of  Jericho  ;  Ruth  of  Moab  ;  and  Bathsheba  of 
Gath  (ch.  i.).  He  is  born  King  of  the  Jews,  but  those 
who  first  seek  him  to  worship  him  are  not  Jews,  but 
"  wise  men  from  the  East,"  the  first  fruits  of  the  Gen- 
tiles (ii.)'     He  chooses  twelve  Apostles  and  sends  them 


OMISSIONS    AND   ADDITIONS.  133 

forth  first  to  "  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,"  but 
only  one  of  them,  Judas  Iscariot,  or  Judas  the  man  of 
Kerioth^  is  of  Judjea,  while  all  the  rest  are  Galileans  (x.). 
The  final  commission  reads  :  "  Go  ye  therefore  and  teach 
all  nations"  (xxviii.). 

The  Gospel,  in  Matthew's  view,  is  first  a  Gospel  for 
the  Jews,  that  it  may  ultimately  become  a  Gospel  for 
mankind.  In  short,  the  omissions  of  Matthew,  while 
they  mark  his  production  as  distinctively  for  the  Jews, 
do  not  by  any  means  confine  salvation  to  the  Jews,  but 
extend  it  to  all  the  race. 

II.   The  Additions  of  the  First  Gospel. 

The  first  Gospel  gives  even  better  evidence  of  its 
special  Jewish  aim  in  what  it  adds  to  the  records  of  the 
other  Evangelists  than  in  what  it  omits  of  that  which  is 
to  be  found  in  them. 

Additions  in  Form.  It  has  been  remarked,  of  late, 
that  Matthew  adds  an  important  feature  to  the  form  of 
his  Gospel,  in  the  careful  and  systematic  grouping  of  his 
material,  —  a  feature  that  especially  adapted  it  to  the 
Jewish  mind. 

There  is  scarcely  a  more  systematic  production  to  be 
found.  This  will  appear  clearly  from  an  examination  of 
the  outline  view  given.  With  reference  to  this  point, 
Lange  has  remarked,  that  "  it  is  a  characteristic  of  this 
Gospel,  which  is  increasingly  recognized,  that  a  careful 
grouping  of  events  prevails  throughout." 

This  feature  may  be  regarded  as  resulting  from  any 
one  or  all  of  three  causes :  the  character  of  the  contents 
of  the  first  Gospel,  as  a  comparison  of  the  historic  Jesus 
and  the  prophetic  Messiah  to  establisli  their  identity  ; 
the  practical  business  training,  already  adverted  to,  of 
Matthew,  the  publican  ;  or  the  characteristic  needs  of 
Jewish  readers,  who  were  trained  to  such  systematic  use 


134  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

of  reason  and  memory  by  their  entire  religions  system 
and  practice.  Doubtless  all  three  influences  had  to  do 
with  the  result  under  consideration. 

This  careful  grouping  may  be  observed  in  all  the  more 
characteristic  portions  of  the  Gospel:  in  the  genealogy 
(i.)  ;  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (v.-vii.)  ;  in  the  three 
series  of  miracles  (viii.-ix.)  ;  in  the  charge  to  the  twelve 
(x.)  ;  in  the  parables  of  the  kingdom  (xiii.) ;  in  the 
series  of  rejections  (xiii.-xvi.)  ;  in  the  three  successive 
predictions  of  the  death  of  Jesus  (xvi.  21 ;  xvii.  22 ;  xx. 
17)  ;  and  in  the  final  conflict  of  Jesus  with  the  authori- 
ties (xxi.-xxii.). 

It  is  not  at  all  strange,  considering  the  character  of  the 
rationalistic  criticism,  that  this  peculiarity  has  been  made 
use  of  in  the  attempt  to  sustain  the  hypothesis,  that  the 
original  Gospel  of  Matthew  consisted  only  of  a  collection 
of  fragmentary  sayings  ;  but  in  the  outline  view,  already 
given,  it  may  readily  be  seen  that  there  was  a  rational 
motive  in  the  mind  of  the  Evangelist  for  grouping  them 
as  they  are.  Matthew  has,  in  short,  given  us  the  most 
systematic  of  the  Gospels,  because  his  plan  and  purpose 
called  for  it.  His  arrangement  fits  his  Gospel  to  appeal 
most  powerfully  to  the  Jewish  soul  and  to  fix  itself  per- 
manently in  the  Jewish  memory.  Indeed,  the  Jew  who 
once  took  its  truths  and  facts  into  his  mind  could  not  get 
them  out  again,  for  it  connected  the  name  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  indissolubly  and  forever  with  all  the  religious 
knowledge  and  hopes  of  the  descendant  of  Abraham,  and 
with  all  the  glories  of  his  past  national  history.  Its  sys- 
tem was,  doubtless,  divinely  ordained  to  serve  this  very 
purpose.  The  rational  aim,  human  and  divine,  leaves  no 
place  for  the  rationalistic  conjecture. 

Additions  to  Material.  Still  more  clearly  do  the  addi- 
tions, which  the  first  Evangelist  makes  to  the  material  of 
the  other  Gospels,  appear  to  be  made  to  fit  his  produc- 
tion for  Jewish  readers. 


OMISSIONS   AND   ADDITIONS.  135 

By  that  mechanical  analysis,  which  has  always  played 
so  prominent  a  part  in  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  it  has 
been  shown  that,  if  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew  be 
regarded  as  made  up  of  100  parts,  42  of  these  are  peculiar 
to  itself,  and  58  common  to  this  with  one  or  more  of  the 
other  Gospels.  A  much  more  important  fact  —  and  one 
that  can  readily  be  shown  to  be  a  fact,  although  it  has 
been  overlooked  —  is,  that  all  the  42  parts  peculiar  to 
Matthew  are  precisely  adapted  to  the  Jewish  aim  of  the 
Evangelist. 

This  may  be  shown  by  passing  in  review  the  narra- 
tives, discourses,  and  groups  of  events  of  which  Matthew's 
additions  are  made  up.  They  all  have  such  a  special 
Jewish  reference  as  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  material  of 
the  other  Evangelists. 

The  origin  of  Jesus  as  Messiah  (i.-ii.),  is  peculiar  to 
Matthew. 

The  genealogy  given  (i.  1-17)  is  that  of  Jesus,  through 
Solomon  and  Joseph,  as  heir  to  the  throne  of  David ; 
wliile  that  of  Luke  (Luke  iii.  23-38)  is  that  of  natural 
descent  through  Nathan  and  Mary,  which  did  not  neces- 
sarily entitle  him  to  the  throne,  but  which  was  of  interest 
to  the  Gentile  world  as  giving  his  actual  lineage.  It 
should  also  be  remarked  that  the  first  Evangelist  traces 
back  the  line  of  Jesus  only  to  Abraham,  the  father  of  the 
covenant  people  ;  while  the  third  traces  it  to  Adam,  the 
father  of  the  race. 

The  Jew  would  not  listen  to  any  one  who  had  not  the 
prophetic  origin  of  the  Messiah.  The  one  line,  of  all 
possible  opening  lines,  best  fitted  to  attract  and  fix  the 
attention  of  the  Jew,  was  that  with  which  Matthew  opens 
his  Gospel.  The  genealogy  which  it  introduces  gives  the 
ofificial  pedigree  of  Jesus.  It  is  documentary  evidence, 
drawn  from  the  Scriptures  and  from  the  public  records, 
which  the  Jew  could  examine  for  himself.     Its  threefold 


136       MATTHEW,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

division  connected  it  with  the  greatest  events  of  Jewish 
history,  —  the  covenant,  the  monarchy,  and  the  captivity. 

The  divine  origin  and  human  birth  of  Jesus  (i.  18-25) 
is  in  accordance  with  prophecy,  and  distinctively  for  the 
Jew.  The  Anointed  of  God  was  to  be  ''  God  with  us," 
divine  as  well  as  human.  Hence  Matthew  presents,  in 
connection  with  the  espousal  of  Mary  and  Joseph,  the 
divine  origin  of  Jesus  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  his  actual  human  birth  of  the  virgin,  —  holding  him 
up  to  the  Jew,  as  not  only  the  son  and  heir  of  David, 
but  as  named  by  God  himself  '^  Jesus,^'  Jah-Hoshea,  the 
Jehovah-Saviour,  "Emmanuel."  The  families  of  Jo- 
seph and  Zacharias  were  competent  witnesses  of  the 
facts. 

The  narrative  of  events  from'  the  birth  until  the  set- 
tlement in  Nazareth  (ii.)  is  given  for  the  Jew,  and  was 
absolutely  necessary  for  his  conviction  of  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  Jesus.  The  Jew  would  naturally  and  inevitably 
fall  back  upon  the  objection,  that  Jesus  was  from  Naza- 
reth of  Galilee,  and  therefore  had  not  the  birthplace  of 
the  Messiah.  Hence  Matthew  proceeds  to  establish  the 
fact  that  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  and  to  show  how 
and  why  the  misconception  had  arisen.  That  he  was 
actually  born  in  Bethlehem  and  not  in  Nazareth,  appeared 
from  a  train  of  events  which  had  already  passed  into  his- 
tory, and  which  found  their  best  and  only  sufficient  ex- 
planation in  his  birth  in  the  former  place.  When  this 
Gospel  was  written,  the  notable  coming  of  the  Magi  to 
Jerusalem,  at  the  very  time  when  Messiah  ought  to  have 
appeared,  was  doubtless  still  remembered ;  the  record 
of  the  meeting  and  the  decree  of  the  Sanhedrim  called 
by  Herod  doubtless  still  remained  ;  the  flight  into  Egypt 
and  the  murder  of  the  babes  had  still  their  living  wit- 
nesses ;  and  the  residence  in  Nazareth  is  at  last  fully  ac- 
counted for  by  the  divine  command  to  settle  there  and 


OMISSIONS   AND   ADDITIONS.  137 

the  prophecy  that  the  Messiah  should  be  called  a  Naza- 
rene. 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (v.-vii.),  is  peculiarly- 
adapted  to  the  Jew. 

It  is  assumed  here,  in  accordance  with  the  view  of  many 
of  the  best  authorities,  that  the  Sermon  given  by  Mat- 
thew was  delivered  on  a  different  occasion  and  to  a  differ- 
ent audience  from  the  so-called  Sermon  on  the  Mount  of 
Luke  (Luke  vi.  17-49),  which  should  rather  be  called 
the  Ser7non  on  the  Plain.  But  the  Sermon  illustrates 
equally  well  on  either  supposition  the  point  here  to  be 
kept  in  mind. 

If  the  two  are  abstracts  of  the  same  address,  then  the 
fitness  of  Matthew's  abstract  for  the  Jew  is  seen  in  his 
preserving  the  Jewish  features  and  references,  which 
Luke  so  entirely  omits. 

But  regarded  as  an  independent  discourse,  it  will  be 
seen  at  once  that  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  in  present- 
ing the  constitution  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  keeps  con- 
stantly in  view  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  and  the  con- 
dition and  needs  of  the  Jew  of  Christ's  day.  It  might 
readily  be  shown  in  detail  how  it  acknowledges  the  pre- 
eminence of  the  Jew  by  divine  choice,  and  yet  rebukes 
his  unrighteous  and  arrogant  pretensions,  reveals  his  per- 
versions of  the  Scriptures,  tears  off  the  mask  of  hypocrisy, 
and  presses  upon  him  the  only  way  of  righteousness  and 
life  by  the  most  solemn  and  emphatic  appeals  to  the 
issues  of  the  final  reckoning.  Every  sentence  of  it  was 
aimed  directly  at  the  Jew. 

The  original  mission  of  the  Twelve  (x.)  was  to  the 
Jews  (x.  6,  23),  and  in  consequence  of  their  spiritual 
destitution  as  witnessed  in  Galilee  (ix.  35-38)  ;  and  tlie 
charge  given  them  had  primar}^  reference  to  their  work 
for  Israel,  as  may  be  seen  by  an  examination  of  it. 

The  same  peculiar  features  may  be  traced  in  the  otlier 


138  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

discourses  of  our  Lord,  added  by  Matthew,  either  wholly 
or  in  part,  to  the  Gospel  material :  in  the  upbraiding  of 
the  cities  of  Galilee  (xi.  20-30)  ;  in  the  answer  to  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  who  demanded  a  sign  (xii.  38-45)  ; 
in  the  divine  compassion  for  the  lost,  and  the  law  of 
Church  censure  and  forgiveness  (xviii.  10-35)  ;  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  and  of  Jerusalem 
(xxiii.  1-39)  ;  and  in  the  description  of  the  day  of  judg- 
ment (xxv). 

Besides  the  capital  fact,  emphasized  by  Matthew,  that 
Jesus  changed  from  plain  teaching  to  parabolic  because 
of  the  blindness  and  obduracy  of  the  Jews  (Matt.  xiii. 
10-16),  it  may  be  shown  that  most  of  the  long  list  of 
parables  contained  in  the  latter  half  of  the  first  Gospel 
are  especially  condemnatory  of  the  Jews.  This  is  true 
of  the  parable  of  the  unmerciful  servant  (xviii.),  which 
opposes  the  boundless  forgiveness  required  in  the  king- 
dom, to  the  teaching  of  the  Jew  which  confined  the  for- 
giveness of  an  offending  brother  to  three  successive  of- 
fenses ;  that  of  the  laborers  in  the  vineyard  (xx.),  which 
lifts  the  Gentile  to  the  same  level  of  divine  privilege  with 
the  Jew ;  that  of  the  two  sons  (xxi.),  which  exalts  the 
Gentile  above  the  Jew;  that  of  the  marriage  of  the 
king's  son  (xxii.),  which  threatens  that  the  kingdom  shall 
be  taken  wholly  from  the  Jewish  people  and  given  to  the 
Gentiles ;  that  of  the  ten  virgins  (xxv.),  which  contrasts 
true  piety  with  Jewish  f ormalit}^  ;  that  of  the  talents 
(xxv.),  which  opposes  productive  spiritual  activity  to 
Jewish  obduracy  and  barrenness. 

The  Jewish  adaptation  is  also  manifest  in  the  great 
groups  of  events  and  teachings  given  by  Matthew  :  in 
the  three  series  of  miracles  (viii.  1-ix.  35)  ;  in  the  par- 
ables of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  (xiii.  1-53)  ;  in  the 
progressive  stages  of  awakened  doubt  and  opposition 
(xi.    2-xii.    50) ;   in   the   series  of   rejections    (xii.  54- 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  139 

xvi.  12)  ;  and  in  the  series  of  conflicts  (xxi.  18-xxiii. 
39). 

The  examination  of  all  these  various  passages  might 
be  entered  into  with  thoroughness,  and  extended  to  the 
most  minute  particulars,  and  always  with  accumulating 
evidence  and  increasing  conviction  that  they  were  all 
added  by  the  Evangelist,  under  the  special  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  to  commend  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  the 
Jews  as  the  Messiah  their  Saviour.  Everything  bears  the 
plainest  marks  of  the  Jewish  aim. 

SECTION  IV. 

THE   JEWISH   ADAPTATION    IK   THE   INCIDENTAL   VARI- 
ATIONS  OF   THE  FIEST  GOSPEL. 

The  adaptation  of  Matthew's  Gospel  to  the  Jewish 
needs  appears  in  the  incidental  variations  and  peculiari- 
ties throughout  the  entire  production. 

I.  Incidental  Variations. 

Different  writers,  in  recording  the  same  facts  or  events, 
under  the  influence  of  different  aims,  always  exhibit  their 
subject  with  manifold  incidental  variations.  This  feature 
is  very  marked  in  the  Gospels,  and  in  the  case  of  each 
Evangelist  it  will  be  found  that  these  variations  always 
bear  the  marks  of  his  special  aim. 

Narrative  Changes.  This  will  appear  in  comparing 
Matthew's  mode  of  treating  some  portions  of  the  evan- 
gelic facts  with  the  mode  adopted  by  the  other  Evangel- 
ists. 

The  mission  of  the  Baptist  is  recorded  or  referred  to 
in  all  the  Gospels.  In  Matthew  he  heralds  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah  of  the  Jews,  coming  in  fulfillment  of  prophecy. 
He  who  shall  come  after  this  heralding  is  to  appear  as  the 
Lord  Jehovah  in  person,  to  set  up  the  kingdom  of  heaven 


140  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

among  men,  and  the  Jews  are  called  to  repentance  as  a 
preparation  for  his  appearance.  In  Mark,  the  work  of 
the  Baptist  is  introduced  to  exhibit  by  contrast  the 
mightier  power  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  comes  to  set  up 
the  kingdom  of  God.  In  Luke,  the  work  of  the  Baptist 
brings  Jesus  forward  as  the  one  perfect  man,  placing  him- 
self on  a  level  with  all  men  by  coming  to  be  baptized 
"  when  all  the  people  were  baptized."  In  John,  the 
Baptist  witnesses  to  Jesus,  before  the  Church  and  the 
world,  as  the  divine,  eternal,  only-begotten  Son  of  God, 
the  Lamb  of  God  sacrificed  to  take  away  the  sin  of  the 
world,  the  life  and  light  of  men. 

The  temptation  of  Christ  appears  only  in  the  first 
three  Gospels,  but  in  each  of  these  with  characteristic 
differences.  Matthew,  commending  Jesus  as  king  to  the 
Jew,  presents  the  temptations  in  one  order  of  the  three- 
fold relation  of  Jesus  :  first,  to  human  wants  ;  secondly, 
to  dependence  on  God  ;  and,  thirdly,  to  the  sovereignty 
of  the  world,  —  closing  thus  by  showing  that  the  king, 
the  second  Adam,  would  win  the  kingdom  by  obedience 
to  the  law  given  to  man  and  transgressed  in  the  first 
Adam.  Luke,  commending  Jesus  to  the  world  as  the 
perfect  man  and  Saviour,  presents  the  temptations  in  a 
different  order  of  the  same  threefold  relation  of  Jesus  : 
first,  to  human  wants  ;  secondl}^,  to  the  sovereignty  of 
the  world  ;  and,  thirdly,  to  his  human  dependence  on 
God,  —  closing  thus  with  the  preservation  of  the  just  re- 
lations of  the  divine-human  Saviour  to  God.  Mark, 
commending  Jesus  to  the  Roman,  as  the  mighty  God, 
the  almighty  worker  and  conqueror,  gathers  all  up  into 
a  single  sentence,  and  adds  to  the  victory  over  Satan  that 
over  the  terrors  of  the  wilderness,  thereby  vastly  increas- 
ing the  impression  of  the  power  of  the  Son  of  God. 

All  the  Evangelists  set  out  from  the  Baptist  in  intro- 
ducing their  readers  to  the  ministry  of  Jesus,  but  the  dif- 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  141 

ferences  in  procedure  are  characteristic.  Mark,  keeping 
in  view  the  Roman,  merely  makes  the  imprisonment  of 
the  Baptist  the  starting-point  of  a  wonder-working  min- 
istry of  Jesus  in  Galilee,  into  the  marvels  of  which  he 
hurries  us  at  once,  without  even  hinting  at  its  prophetic 
relations.  Luke,  in  tracing  for  the  reasoning  Greek  the 
orderly  development  of  the  life  and  work  of  Jesus,  opens 
with  the  ministry  in  Galilee,  as  the  natural  sequence  of 
that  of  the  Baptist,  but  does  not  emphasize  the  connec- 
tion. John,  writing  for  the  Christian,  sets  out  with  the 
Baptist,  as  preparing  the  way  for  that  private  ministry 
of  Jesus  in  Judaea  which  preceded  the  public  ministry  in 
Galilee,  and  which,  as  being  directed  to  the  true  Israel 
and  dealing  with  high  spiritual  themes,  is  passed  over  in 
silence  by  the  other  Evangelists,  but  brought  forward  in 
the  Gospel  for  the  Christian,  the  spiritual  man,  as  emi- 
nently fitted  to  further  its  peculiar  aim.  Matthew,  with 
his  eye  on  the  Jew,  starts  with  the  public  ministry  of 
Jesus  in  Galilee,  —  which,  strictly  speaking,  could  begin 
only  when  that  of  the  Baptist,  the  forerunner,  closed,  — 
and  presents  Jesus  at  once  and  most  prominently  in  his 
Messianic  character,  fulJ&Uing  prophecy. 

Or,  passing  on  to  the  scenes  of  Calvary,  and  the  clos- 
ing career,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  only  one  of  the 
seven  sayings  of  Christ  on  the  cross  which  is  recorded  by 
the  first  Evangelist  is  that  from  Psalm  xxii.  :  "  Eli !  Eli ! 
lama  sabachthani  ?  that  is  to  say.  My  God,  My  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me  ? "  That  is  distinctively  the 
Psalm  of  the  suffering  Messiah.  He  may  have  repeated 
it  all.  At  all  events,  it  must  have  passed  through  his 
soul  at  that  hour.  Ages  before  the  inspired  psalmist 
had  drawn  the  picture,  and  it  was  the  one  Scripture  of 
all  to  bring  home  and  explain  that  scene  on  Calvary  to 
the  Jewish  soul.  The  agony,  the  forsaking  by  God,  the 
scoffing  of  men,  the  exhaustion  and  death,  the  piercing 


142  MATTHEW,    THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   JEW. 

of  hands  and  feet,  the  castmg  of  lots  for  the  garments, 
are  all  there  in  the  Psalm  as  distinct  as  the  reality  it- 
self. The  triumph  and  the  glory  are  there,  too,  just  as 
distinct.  "  All  the  ends  of  the  world  shall  remember 
and  turn  unto  the  Lord  :  and  all  the  kindreds  of  the  na- 
tions shall  worship  before  thee.  For  the  kingdom  is  the 
Loed's,  and  he  is  the  governor  among  the  nations."  So 
the  Psalm  (xxii.  27,  28)  advances  from  the  wail  of  the 
sufferer  to  the  triumphant  shout  of  the  Messianic  Con- 
queror and  King.  "  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in 
heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching  them  to  ob- 
serve all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you." 
So  the  Gospel  rises  to  the  same  triumphant  Messianic 
note  (Matt,  xxviii.  18-20). 

Such  examples  might  be  extended  to  cover  all  the 
facts  and  events  which  Matthew  records  in  common  with 
one  or  more  of  the  other  Evangelists,  and  would  every- 
where be  found  to  exhibit  the  same  characteristics. 

Slighter  Additions.  But  passing  over  these,  there  is 
a  very  large  and  important  class  of  incidental  additions, 
made  by  Matthew,  in  connection  with  materials  common 
to  two  or  more  of  the  Gospels. 

Matthew  alone  brings  out  the  fulfillment  of  Messianic 
prophecies  in  connection  with  the  great  outward  events  of 
our  Lord's  life  :  in  the  place,  time,  and  extraordinary 
circumstances  of  his  public  ministry  (iv.  13-25)  ;  in  the 
noiselessness  of  his  work  (xii.  17-21)  ;  in  his  rejection 
(xiii.  13-17)  ;  in  his  teaching  by  parables  (xiii.  33-35)  ; 
and  in  the  miracles  in  the  temple  (xxi.  14-16). 

It  is  from  Matthew  that  we  learn  that  the  conflict  of 
opinion,  which  resulted  in  the  death  of  Jesus,  had  already 
begun  as  early  as  the  healing  of  the  two  blind  men  and 
the  dumb  demoniac  in  Capernaum  (ix.  27-34)  ;  that  the 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  143 

Sanhedrim  plotted  his  destruction  in  public  assembly 
(xxvi.  3-5)  ;  that  the  price  given  the  traitor  was  that  of 
a  common  slave  (xxvi.  16)  ;  that  Judas  repented,  re^ 
turned  the  money,  and  committed  suicide,  fulfilhng 
prophecy  (xxvii.  3-10)  ;  that  Pilate  washed  his  hands  of 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  and  all  the  people  said,  "  His  blood 
be  on  us,  and  on  our  children  "  (xxvii.  24,  25)  ;  and  that 
the  enemies  of  Jesus  made  his  sepulchre  sure  (xxvii. 
62-66),  and  afterwards  invented  the  report  that  his  dis- 
ciples stole  his  body  away  (xxviii.  11-15). 

Matthew  alone  tells  us  that  Jesus  declared  John  to  be 
the  EHjah  who  was  to  come  (xi.  12-15)  ;  that  he  charac- 
terized the  Jew  and  the  Gentile  in  the  parable  of  the 
two  sons  (xxi.  28-32)  ;  that  he  forced  the  Jewish  leaders 
to  pronounce  judgment  upon  themselves,  and  then  added 
his  own  (xxi.  40-44) ;  and  that  he  predicted  the  connec- 
tion of  his  death  with  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Passover 
(xxvi.  2). 

It  is  to  Matthew  that  we  owe  the  fact  that  after  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  many  saints  came  forth  from  their 
graves  in  testimony  of  his  divine  mission  and  power 
(xxvii.  52,  53)  ;  and  that  he  was  worshiped  by  the  dis- 
ciples on  the  mountain  in  Galilee,  and  then  assumed  the 
divine  authority  of  the  Messiah  (xxvii.  17-20). 

Such  variations  have  an  increased  importance  from  the 
fact  that  they  furnish  incidentally,  and  in  way  not  to  be 
resisted,  just  the  credentials  needed  in  presenting  Jesus 
as  Messiah  to  the  Jews. 

"Word  Changes.  There  is  another  class  of  variations, 
slighter,  perhaps,  but  no  less  characteristic,  often  in- 
volved in  the  change  of  a  single  word,  which  deserves 
notice  as  illustrating  the  same  Jewish  reference  of  the 
first  Gospel. 

Only  Matthew  tells  us,  in  narrating  the  temptation, 
that  Jesus  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness /or 


144       MATTHEW,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  JEW. 

the  express  purpose  of  being  tempted  by  the  devil  (iv.  1). 
The  Jew  alone  felt  it  to  be  a  necessity  that  the  second 
Adam,  in  his  work  of  fulfilling  the  law  and  restoring 
man,  should  meet  and  overcome  the  tempter  by  whom 
the  first  Adam  fell.  So  Matthew  tells  us  that  the  devil, 
in  preparing  for  the  second  temptation,  takes  Jesus  to  the 
holy  city  of  the  Jew  (iv.  5),  and  there  makes  his  second 
assault  upon  him.  Luke  says  the  devil  brought  him 
to  Jerusalem  (Luke  iv.  9).  To  the  Greek,  the  former 
expression  would  have  been  unintelligible  without  expla- 
nation ;  to  the  Jew  it  was  the  cherished  form  of  speech, 
and  his  delight  in  Jerusalem  was  because  it  was  the  holy 
city. 

Matthew's  account  of  the  triumphal  entry  of  Jesus  into 
Jerusalem  bears  like  marks  ot  the  writer's  aim.  He 
alone  tells  us  that  the  disciples  brought  both  a  colt  and 
an  ass  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  (xxi.  2,  5,  7)  ;  and  this  he 
repeats  in  three  forms,  showing  that  it  was  in  exact  ful- 
fillment of  prophecy  (Zech.  ix.  9).  Mark  and  Luke 
speak  of  the  colt  only  (Mark  xi.  2  ;  Luke  xix.  30),  as 
that  on  which  Jesus  rode  ;  while  John,  in  the  language  of 
prophecy,  mentions  the  ass's  colt  (xii.  15).  It  is  also 
worthy  of  remark  that  only  the  Evangelist  who  had  a 
supreme  interest  in  the  Jews  mentions  the  fact  that  all 
Jerusalem  was  moved  at  the  entrance  of  Jesus  the 
prophet  of  Nazareth  of  Galilee  (xxi.  10,  11). 

Or  passing  on  to  the  arrest  of  Jesus  in  Gethsemane, 
could  anything  be  more  marked  than  the  variations  of 
Matthew's  account  from  the  accounts  of  the  other  Evan- 
gelists ?  Only  he  tells  us  of  Christ's  curse  upon  the  use 
of  the  sword  in  his  cause  :  "  for  all  they  that  take  the 
sword  shall  perish  b}^  the  sword  "  (xxvi.  52).  It  was 
the  needed  caution  to  the  Apostles,  whose  Jewish  nature 
was  always  leading  them  to  put  the  temporal  in  the  place 
of  the  spiritual.     And  as  Matthew  had  before  taught  the 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  145 

Jew  most  clearly  that  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  was  entirely 
voluntary,  as  a  ransom  for  sinners  (xx.  28),  so  here  that 
Evangelist  alone  represents  Jesus  as  declaring,  and  that 
with  the  most  solemn  emphasis,  that  he  made  it  volun- 
tarily to  fulfill  the  law  and  the  prophets,  when  all  the 
forces  of  heaven  were  at  his  command  (xxvi.  53,  54). 

These  are  but  instances  of  those  slighter  changes  found 
throughout  the  first  Gospel,  and  everywhere  showing  its 
Jewish  aim  and  coloring. 

II.    Other  Peculiarities. 

From  the  entire  survey,  as  pursued  thus  far,  it  is  fur- 
ther obvious  that  the  first  Gospel  exhibits  certain  other 
marks,  in  matter  entirely  peculiar  to  itself,  which  can 
only  be  explained  by  its  Jewish  aim. 

Jewish  Assumptions.  Matthew  assumes,  and  every- 
where acts  upon  the  assumption  of  what  have  been 
shown  to  be  the  characteristics  of  the  Jews  as  distin- 
guished from  the  other  men  of  that  age. 

He  acknowledges  the  Jews  the  chosen  people  of  God, 
as  in  the  words  concerning  the  faith  of  the  centurion 
(viii.  10-12)  ;  in  the  charge  to  the  Twelve  (x.  5,  6)  ;  and 
in  the  words  of  the  Canaanitish  woman  (xv.  24)  ;  wliile, 
in  the  very  same  connection,  he  rebukes  their  exclusive- 
ness  and  wicked  pretensions. 

He  assumes  that  to  them  belonged  the  oracles  of  God, 
while  he  everywhere  exhibits,  corrects,  and  denounces 
their  perversions  of  the  great  practical  doctrines.  He 
admits  that  they  possess  the  only  true  forms  of  religious 
worship,  while  he  unveils  and  denounces  with  merciless 
severity  their  hypocritical  formalism.  He  proceeds,  as 
has  been  abundantly  shown,  upon  their  familiarity  with 
the  doctrine  of  the  Messiah,  while  he  exposes  their  car- 
nal and  worldly  views  of  his  kingdom,  and  presents  it 
in  its  true  spiritual  aspects. 

10 


146  MATTHEW,    THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   JEW. 

Jewish  Expressions.  There  still  remain  certain  ex- 
pressions and  features  of  the  first  Gospel  which  may  be 
noticed  as  bringing  out  for  the  Jew  with  peculiar  clear- 
ness the  spiritual  character  of  Messiah  and  his  kingdom. 
Here  was  the  one  most  insidious  dream  of  the  age,  which 
needed,  therefore,  most  of  all  to  be  dissipated. 

The  first  of  these  expressions  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven^ 
or  of  the  heavens^  as  the  original  has  it.  Matthew  uses 
it  no  less  than  thirty  times.  He  alone  of  all  the  Evan- 
gelists uses  it.  The  Baptist's  call  was,  "  Eepent  ye,  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand  "  (iii.  2).  The  open- 
ing proclamation  of  Jesus  was,  "  Repent,  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  at  hand "  (iv.  17).  So  throughout  the 
Gospel  the  phrase  is  used. 

The  phrase  clearly  expresses  the  idea  that  it  is  a  king- 
dom distinct  from  all  those  kingdoms  of  this  world  after 
which  the  Jew  had  fashioned  his  idea  of  Messiah's  do- 
minion. Its  origin  is  in  the  heavens  where  God  dwells  : 
its  throne,  the  seat  of  its  king,  is  there ;  its  highest  pres- 
ent and  prospective  glories  are  there. 

This  simple  phrase  taught  that  the  kingdom  of  Messiah 
was  to  be  a  spiritual  and  heavenly  kingdom,  unlike  the 
old  theocracy  wdth  its  temple  and  throne  in  Jerusalem ; 
unlike  the  ma^gnificent  empire  patterned  after  Rome, 
which  the  worldly  Jew  was  dreaming  of ;  wholly  unlike 
the  temporal  empire  of  the  Papacy  long  after  established. 

Matthew  uses  the  equally  significant  and  spiritual  ex- 
pression, the  Church.  The  other  Evangelists  never  use 
it. 

The  Church,  the  ecdesia,  is  the  body  of  Christ's  fol- 
lowers, called  out  from  the  unspiritual  world,  from  the 
kingdom  of  darkness,  and  brought  into  spiritual  obedience 
to  him  as  their  head.  Matthew  represents  Jesus  as  iden- 
tifying the  Church  with  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
giving   it   his   divine  authority :    "  And  I  say  also  unto 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  147 

thee,  that  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  will  I  build 
my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it.  And  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall 
be  bound  in  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on 
earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven  "  (xvi.  18-20).  This 
authority  of  the  Church  is  also  reaffirmed  in  connection 
with  the  statement  of  the  law  of  offenses  in  the  kingdom 
(xviii.  18-20).  The  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  manifested 
in  the  Church,  is  thus  clearly  seen  to  be  a  spiritual  or- 
ganization, independent  of  all  temporal  and  worldly 
organizations. 

Lest  there  should  still  be  room  for  the  dangerous  Jew- 
ish error  of  confounding  the  kingdom  of  Messiah  with 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  Matthew  represents  Jesus  as 
still  more  clearly  distinguishing  between  the  two  by  his 
plain  teaching  that  the  two  are  distinct,  —  each  being 
supreme  in  its  own  sphere.  When  the  Herodians  and 
Pharisees  tempted  him  to  teach  sedition,  by  the  crafty 
question,  "  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  unto  Caesar  or 
not  ?  "  Mark  and  Luke  represent  him  as  saying  "  Bring 
me  a  penny ;  "  and  it  has  been  alleged  that  his  admirable 
reply,  when  it  was  brought  to  him,  "  Render  therefore 
unto  Caesar  the  things  which  be  Caesar's,  and  unto  God 
the  things  which  be  God's,"  was  only  an  ingenious  eva- 
sion of  the  question  put  to  him  ;  but  as  Matthew  puts  it, 
he  said,  "  Shew  me  the  tribute  money ^''  so  that  it  was  with 
the  penny  in  his  hand  as  tribute  money  that  his  reply 
was  given  ;  and  accordingly  it  was  no  evasion,  but  an  ex- 
plicit inculcation  of  the  duty  of  payment. ^ 

If  there  is  still  doubt,  let  it  be  remembered  that  Jesus 
actually  paid  tribute,  and  on  one  occasion  wrought  a  mir- 
acle to  provide  the  means  of  paying  it  (xvii.  24-27), 
—  a  fact  which  Matthew  alone  records. 

1  For  a  suggestive  summary  of  facts  on  this  and  other  points,  see  Tht 
Four  Evangelists,  by  Rev.  Edward  A.  Thomson,  pp.  41-46. 


148  MATTHEW,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  JEW. 

Still  further,  it  will  be  found  by  examination,  that  in 
the  first  Gospel  only  is  the  authority  of  Pilate,  the  civil 
ruler,  distinctly  recognized.  In  this  Gospel  alone  he  is 
the  governor.  Moreover,  in  this  Gospel  only,  as  has  been 
shown,  is  there  added  to  the  rebuke  to  the  unlawful  re- 
sistance of  Peter,  recorded  also  by  John,  "  Put  up  thy 
sword  into  his  place,"  the  significant  words,  "  For  all 
they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the  sword." 

The  foundation  of  the  kingdom  upon  righteousness 
rather  than  force,  its  existence  in  the  midst  of  the  king- 
doms of  this  world,  its  rejection  by  the  great  leaders  and 
rulers  of  men,  complete  the  evidence  of  its  spirituality, 
and  give  the  death-blow  to  all  the  carnal  expectations  of 
the  Jews.  It  is  to  be  a  universal  kingdom  established  by 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  throughout  the  world  (xxviii. 
18-20). 

SUMMARY. 

To  one  casting  a  final  glance  back,  from  the  point  now 
reached,  over  the  entire  course  of  investigation  pursued, 
the  Jewish  adaptation  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Mat- 
tliew  cannot  fail  to  appear  clearly. 

It  has  been  shown  to  be  a  historical  fact  that  Matthew, 
a  Jew  eminently  fitted  for  the  task,  wrote  this  Gospel 
for  the  Jews,  the  men  chosen  by  God  to  be  the  custodians 
of  both  the  doctrines  and  forms  of  the  true  and  divine 
world-religion,  and  the  men  from  whom  and  to  whom  the 
prophets  had  ages  before  declared  that  the  Messiah  was 
first  to  come.  This  is  the  historical  foundation  of  the 
true  theory  of  the  Gospel. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  the  first  Gospel  itself 
everywhere  bears  the  marks  of  its  Jewish  origin  and  aim. 
This  appears  in  its  entire  plan,  which  is  the  unfolding  of 
the  central  idea  that  Jesus  is  the  Messiah  of  the  Prophets. 
It  appears  likewise  in  the  omissions  and  additions  made 
by  the  Evangelist,  both  of  which  have  been  shown  to 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  149 

have  been  made  to  adapt  it  to  the  Jewish  soul  and  its 
needs.  It  appears  no  less  clearly  in  all  its  incidental  va- 
riations from  the  others,  and  in  all  its  incidental,  at  first 
view  almost  accidental,  peculiarities,  —  the  entire  pro- 
duction being  moulded  and  shaped  and  colored,  in  its  nar- 
ratives, sentences,  and  words,  by  its  Jewish  reference  and 
adaptation. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  too  much  to  claim,  that  the  histor- 
ical and  critical  views  of  the  Gospel  combine  to  estab- 
lish the  theory  that  Matthew  was  originally  the  Gospel 
for  the  Jew,  and  to  demonstrate  that  this  theory  is  the 
true  key  to  the  Gospel. 


PAET  III. 


MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

"  Sole  victor  from  th'  expulsion  of  his  foes 
Messiah  his  triumphal  chariot  turn'd  ; 

Son,  Heir,  and  Lord,  to  Him  dominion  given, 
Worthiest  to  receive." 

John  Milton. 

"  The  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ;  as  it 
is  written  in  the  Prophets,  Behold,  I  send  my  messenger  before  thy  face, 
which  shall  prepare  thy  way  before  thee.  The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the 
•wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord  ;  make  his  paths  straiglit." 

Mark  i.  1-3. 

"  Secundus  Marcus,  interpres  apostoli  Petri,  et  Alexandrinas  ecclesife 
primus  cpiscopus,  qui  Dominum  quidem  Salvatorem  ipse  non  vidit,  sed  ea 
quae  magistrum  audierat  pradicantem,  juxta  fidem  magis  gestorum  nar- 
ravit  quam  ordinem."  Jerome. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HISTORICAL  VIEW  OF  THE  ROMAN  ADAPTATION  OF  THE 
SECOND  GOSPEL. 

SECTION  L 

ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN   OF   THE   SECOND   GOSPEL. 

Following  the  order  laid  down  in  the  investigation 
of  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew,  it  becomes  neces- 
sary to  ask  and  answer  the  questions  :     What  was  the 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  151 

actual  origin  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Mark  ?  For  what 
class  of  readers  was  it  immediately  designed  ? 

The  latter  question  has  seldom  been  asked,  but  a  vast 
amount  of  time  and  effort  has  been  expended  upon  the 
construction  of  a  priori  and  imaginative  theories  of  the 
origin  of  the  second  Gospel. 

Perhaps  the  most  popular  of  these  theories  is  that  of 
the  critics  who  would  have  us  believe  that  this  Gospel 
is  only  a  very  awkward  rehash  of  that  according  to 
Matthew,  with  the  occasional  addition,  no  less  awkward, 
of  some  statement  from  Luke.  The  remarkable  resem- 
blance of  the  first  and  second  Gospels  seems  at  first  sight 
to  give  probability  to  the  theory,  but  it  will  be  shown 
subsequently  that  this  resemblance  is  to  be  accounted  for 
in  a  different  manner.  The  hasty  and  sometimes  shabby 
treatment  of  the  second  Gospel  by  many  of  the  commen- 
tators has  done  not  a  little  to  foster,  in  the  minds  of  com- 
mon readers,  a  view  too  closely  allied  to  that  of  these 
critics. 

A  careful  study  of  the  Gospel  itself,  with  a  wise  refer- 
ence to  the  age  in  which  it  was  produced  and  to  the  act- 
ual history  of  its  origin,  will  reveal  the  fact  that  it  has  a 
distinct  aim  and  an  independent  unity  of  its  own.  Such 
study  will  scarcely  fail  to  convince  the  candid  mind  that 
Matthew  is  quite  as  likely  to  be  a  rehash  of  Mark,  as 
Mark  is  of  Matthew.  At  the  same  time,  much  more  ac- 
cordant with  a  due  reverence  for  the  four  Gospels,  as  pro- 
duced by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  forming 
together  one  part  of  a  great  plan  of  that  Being  who  never 
really  wastes  material,  is  the  theory  that  each  one  of  the 
Evangelists,  in  writing  what  he  wrote,  was  directed  by 
infinite  wisdom  to  perform  an  essential  and  distinct  serv- 
ice for  the  world. 

From  the  historical  point  of  view,  it  can  be  shown  con- 
clusively that  the  second  Gospel  was  written  for  the  Ro- 


152  MARK,   THE   GOSPEL  FOR   THE  ROMAN. 

mans,  the  second  of  the  three  great  representative  races 
of  which  the  civilized  world  of  Mark's  day  was  made 
up. 

Witnesses.  The  most  ancient  direct  testimony  here, 
as  in  the  case  of  Matthew,  is  that  of  Papias,  as  preserved 
by  Eusebius.  Papias  recorded  what  he  learned  by  in- 
quiry from  the  disciples  of  the  Apostles.  "  Mark,  the 
interpreter  of  Peter,  wrote  carefully  down  all  that  he 
recollected,  but  not  according  to  the  order  of  Christ's 
speaking  or  working.  For,  as  I  think,  he  neither  had 
heard  Christ,  nor  was  a  direct  follower  of  him.  But 
wnth  Peter,  as  already  said,  he  was  afterward  .intimate, 
who  used  to  preach  the  Gospel  for  the  profit  of  his 
hearers,  and  not  in  order  to  construct  a  history  of  the 
sayings  of  the  Lord.  Hence  Mark  made  no  mistake,  since 
he  so  wrote  some  things  as  he  was  accustomed  to  repeat 
them  from  memory,  and  since  he  continually  sought  thig 
one  thing,  —  neither  to  omit  anything  of  those  things 
which  he  had  heard,  nor  to  add  anything  false  to  them."  ^ 

The  character  of  Papias,  his  method,  and  the  value  of 
his  testimony,  have  already  been  considered  under  the 
origin  and  design  of  the  first  Gospel.  The  considerations 
there  adduced  apply  with  equal  force  here.  Irenagns 
confirms  the  testimony  of  Papias.  He  states  that,  after 
the  departure  of  Peter  and  Paul  from  Rome,  "  Mark,  the 
disciple  and  interpreter  of  Peter,  did  also  hand  down  to 
us  in  writing  what  had  been  preached  by  Peter."  ^ 

TertuUian  of  Carthage,  who  wrote  later,  agrees  with 
Irenaeus,  declaring  incidentally  that  the  Gospel  "  which 
Mark  published  may  be  affirmed  to  be  Peter's,  whose  in- 
terpreter Mark  was."  ^ 

Clement  of   Alexandria,  who  flourished  in   the  latter 

1  Euseb.  Hist.  Ecclcs.  iii.  39. 

2  Iron.neus,  Af/ninst  Heresies,  iii.  1  ;  iii.  10 ;  Euseb.  Hist.  Ecdes.  v.  8, 
"  Tertulliiiu,  Against  Marcion,  iv.  5. 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  153 

part  of  the  second  century,  brings  out  more  explicitly  the 
Roman  aim  of  the  second  Gospel.  His  scholarly  attain- 
ments, wide  acquaintance  with  the  Church,  and  nearness 
to  apostolic  times,  all  combine  to  make  him  a  most  valu- 
able witness  in  this  matter:  his  scholarly  attainments, 
for,  having  studied  first  with  the  various  philosophers,  and 
afterwards  with  the  distinguished  Christian  teachers,  in 
Syria,  Palestine,  Greece,  Italy,  and  Egypt,  and  having 
profited  in  all,  he  had  scarcely  an  equal  in  his  century, 
and  so  had  readiest  access  to  all  the  written  opinions  of 
the  age  ;  his  wide  acquaintance  with  the  Church,  —  for  his 
travels  and  studies  brought  him  into  contact  with  well- 
nigh  its  whole  extent  from  east  to  west,  and  gave  him 
opportunity  to  learn  the  traditions  on  all  such  points  ;  his 
nearness  to  apostolic  times,  —  for  his  life  reached  back  so 
far  as  to  need  but  a  single  link  to  connect  it  with  the 
passing  away  of  the  last  of  the  Apostles.  With  these 
facilities  for  arriving  at  the  truth  on  that  point,  he  makes 
his  statement  touching  the  aim  of  Mark's  Gospel  as  an 
undisputed  fact,  and  does  it  at  a  time  when,  if  contrary 
to  fact,  it  would  have  been  the  easiest  thing  conceivable 
to  expose  its  falsehood. 

His  statement  was  originally  made  in  the  sixth  book 
of  his  Institutions,  a  writing  not  now  extant  but  quoted 
by  Eusebius.  It  is  to  the  effect,  that  when  the  Gospel 
was  preached  to  the  Romans  "  such  a  light  of  piety  shone 
into  the  minds  of  those  who  heard  Peter  that  they  were 
not  satisfied  with  once  hearing,  nor  with  the  unwritten 
doctrine  that  was  delivered,  but  earnestly  besought  ]\Iark 
(whose  Gospel  is  now  spread  abroad)  that  he  would  leave 
in  writing  for  them  the  doctrine  which  they  had  received 
by  preaching  ;  nor  did  they  cease  until  they  had  per- 
suaded him,  and  so  given  occasion  for  the  Gospel  to  be 
written  which  is  now  called  after  Mark.  The  Apostle, 
understanding  this  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 


154  MARK,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   ROMAN. 

^vas  pleased  with  the  earnest  desire  of  these  men,  and 
commanded  this  Gospel  now  written  to  be  read  in  the 
churches."  ^ 

Clement  elsewhere  specifies  some  "  Roman  knights  " 
as  having  made  this  request.^ 

Origen,  the  pupil  of  Clement,  agrees  with  his  master 
in  his  statement  of  the  origin  of  the  second  Gospel.  In 
the  first  book  of  his  Commentaries  on  the  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew, in  giving  the  catalogue  of  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures,  he  writes  :  "  As  I  have  understood  from  tra- 
dition, respecting  the  four  Gospels,  which  are  the  only 
undisputed  ones  in  the  whole  Church  of  God  throughout 
the  world  ;  the  first  is  written  according  to  Matthew,  the 
same  that  was  once  a  publican,  but  afterwards  an  Apostle 
of  Jesus  Christ,  who  having  published  it  for  the  Jewish 
converts,  wrote  it  in  the  Hebrew ;  the  second  is  according 
to  Mark,  who  composed  it,  as  Peter  explained  to  him, 
who  also  acknowledges  him  as  his  son  in  his  general 
Epistle,  saying,  '  The  elect  church  in  Babylon  salutes  you, 
as  also  Mark  my  son  ; '  the  third  is  according  to  Luke, 
the  Gospel  commended  by  Paul,  which  was  written  for 
the  converts  from  the  Gentiles  ;  and  last  of  all  is  the 
Gospel  according  to  John."^ 

At  a  later  date,  Eusebius  the  historian  sums  up  the  un- 
varying testimony  of  those  who  have  gone  before,  and 
gives  his  own  incjorsement  to  the  statement  that  Mark 
wrote  his  Gospel  under  the  direction  of  Peter,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  brethren  at  Rome,  and  with  a  special  view 
to  circulation  in  Italy  and  among  the  Romans  generally.* 

Gregory  Nazianzen  confirms  the  main  point  in  this 
testimony,  in  his  Theological  Poems,  for  the  instruction 

1  Euseb.  Uist.  Erch's.  ii.  15. 

2  Adumbrat.  in  1  Pet.  p.  1007. 

8  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccks.  vi.  25  ;  Orig.  Comm.  in  Matt.  i. 
*  Euseb.  Hist.  Ecclcs.  ii.  15  :  vi.  14  :  vi.  25. 


ORIGIN   AND  DESIGN.  155 

of  the  Church,  declaring  that  Mark  wrote  his  account  of 
the  miraculous  works  of  Christ  for  Romans.^ 

Jerome  writes  that  "  the  second  Evangelist  is  Mark, 
the  interpreter  of  Peter,  and  the  first  bishop  of  the 
Church  of  Alexandria,  who  did  not  himself  see  the 
Saviour,  but  related  those  things  which  he  had  heard  his 
master  preaching,  and  according  to  the  belief  of  the  re- 
porters rather  than  in  strict  order."  ^ 

The  veracity  of  these  witnesses  on  this  point  has  never 
been  fairly  impeached.  No  reasonable  motive  can  be 
assigned  for  their  making  the  main  statements  in  which 
they  agree,  except  the  conviction  that  those  statements 
wxre  founded  in  fact. 

Pertinent  Facts.  We  are  therefore  justified  in  ac- 
cepting as  undoubted  facts,  that  Mark  wrote  the  second 
Gospel ;  that  it  was  substantially  the  preaching  of  Peter 
to  the  Romans  ;  that  the  Gospel  was  written  at  the  re- 
quest of  Romans,  and  was  intended  to  give  the  preaching 
of  Peter  a  permanent  form  for  them  ;  and  that  it  took 
advantage  of  the  Roman  peculiarities,  and  was  fitted  to 
commend  Jesus,  as  the  Saviour,  to  the  Roman  soul. 

The  theory  advanced  in  the  present  work  does  not  di- 
rectly depend  for  its  verification  upon  the  establishment 
of  the  fact  that  Peter  was  actually  at  Rome  and  had  to 
do  with  the  founding  of  the  church  there  ;  for  the  Gos- 
pel was  preached  to  the  Romans  all  over  the  ancient 
world.  The  ease  with  which  many  writers  throw  aside, 
as  unworthy  of  belief,  the  Patristic  traditions  concerning 
the  connection  of  Peter  and  Mark  with  Rome,  is,  how- 
ever, to  say  the  least,  exceedingly  marvelous.  It  appears 
all  the  more  so  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  Church 
rests  upon  the  testimony  of  these  same  ancient  writers  for 
the  most  of  her  knowledge  of  the  historic  origin  of  the 

1  Greg.  Naz.  Carmi'n.  lib.  i.  sect.  i.  12,  vers.  32. 

2  Hierou.  Comment,  in  Evang.  Matth.  proleg.  3,  4. 


156  MARK,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   ROMAN. 

canon  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the  Christian  religion. 
The  influence  of  the  modern  criticism  is  at  present  man- 
ifesting itself  in  the  tendency  to  treat  slightly  the  un- 
varying Patristic  traditions  touching  the  connection  of 
Peter  with  the  Gospel  of  Mark.  The  methods,  scientific 
value,  and  inevitable  results  of  such  criticism  have  already 
been  adverted  to,  in  considering  the  origin  and  design  of 
the  first  Gospel.  The  common-sense  view,  which  is  al- 
ways in  accordance  with  the  truly  scientific  one,  undoubt- 
edly is  that  expressed  by  Principal  Tulloch :  "  If  the  tes- 
timony of  the  Fathers  is  good  for  anything  at  all,  this 
connection  (of  Peter  with  Mark's  Gospel)  is  ^s  certain 
as  any  historical  fact  can  be,  and  not  less  important  than 
it  is  certain."  ^ 

Indirectly,  therefore,  as  was  seen  in  discussing  the  fact 
of  a  Hebrew  original  of  Matthew's  Gospel,  the  theory  of 
the  historic  origin  of  Mark  does  depend,  in  some  measure, 
upon  the  acceptance  of  these  facts  so  clearly  and  unmis- 
takably stated  by  so  many  of  the  Fathers  of  the  early 
Church  ;  for  the  same  false  principles  of  criticism  must 
sweep  away  the  entire  basis  of  history  and  leave  the  pres- 
ent swinging  loose  from  all  the  past. 

The  clearly  ascertained  historical  facts  concerning  the 
origin  of  the  second  Gospel,  furnish  the  true  starting- 
point  in  seeking  an  adequate  understanding  of  the  Gos- 
pel. 

SECTION  II. 

THE  CHARACTER  AND  NEEDS  OF  THE  ROMAN. 

If  the  second  Gospel  originated,  as  has  been  shown, 
in  the  preaching  of  Peter,  and  was  prepared  through  the 
agency  of  Mark  for  Roman  readers,  the  character  and 
needs  of  the  Roman  must  furnish  the  key  to  this  Gos- 
pel. 

1  Lectures  on  'Vie  de  Jesus'  p.  109. 


THE   ROMAN   CHARACTER.  157 

The  questions  to  be  asked  and  answered  here  are: 
What  manner  of  man  was  the  Roman  ?  What  were  his 
spiritual  needs?  The  answers  to  these  questions  will 
cast  light  upon  whatever  has  been  prepared  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  Roman  race. 

I.   TJie  Romans, 

Certain  characteristics  clearly  distinguish  the  Romans 
from  the  other  great  historic  races  of  the  age  of  Christ. 
They  represented  the  idea  of  active  human  power  in  the 
ancient  world.  They  embodied  that  idea  in  the  state  or 
empire,  as  the  repository  of  law  and  justice.  The}^  came 
in  process  of  time  to  deify  the  state  as  the  grandest  con- 
crete manifestation  of  power.  With  the  consciousness  of 
being  born  to  rule  the  world,  they  pushed  the  idea  of 
national  power  to  universal  empire. 

Out  of  these  characteristics,  which  made  the  Roman  an 
altogether  peculiar  man  among  men,  came  his  spiritual 
needs.  Those  needs  were  deepened  and  intensified  by  the 
ultimate  failure  of  the  Roman  race  in  its  attempted  work 
for  the  world.  Along  the  line  of  the  peculiarities  of  this 
race  must  accordingly  be  sought  the  correct  understand- 
ing of  their  Gospel  requirements  in  the  time  of  Christ 
and  the  Apostles. 

Active  Human  Power.  The  Romans  represented  the 
idea  of  active  human  power  in  the  ancient  world. 

The  liberty  is  here  taken  of  assuming  that,  under 
Providence,  the  history  of  each  nation  is,  either  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  the  embodiment  and  working 
out  of  some  grand  idea.  That  idea  once  seized  upon 
furnishes  the  key  to  the  nation's  character,  conduct,  and 
mission,  and  shows  what  is  needed,  humanly  speaking, 
in  order  to  commend  Jesus  Christ  to  that  nation  as  the 
divine  deliverer  of  men. 

This  key  to  the  character,  career,  and  wants  of  the  Ro- 


158  MARK,    THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  ROMAN. 

mans  is  found  in  the  idea  of  power.  In  writing  to  the 
Christians  at  Rome,  therefore,  Paul  is  "  not  ashamed  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ,  because  it  is  the  poiver  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth "  (Rom.  i.  16). 
"What,  then,  was  the  Roman  idea  of  power,  in  its  essence, 
modifications,  and  developments  ? 

The  horizon  of  Rome,  broad  as  it  was,  was  yet  limited 
to  this  world.  The  Roman  was  not,  like  the  Jew,  the 
representative  of  supernatural  and  divine  power,  but  of 
power  natural  and  human.  Even  this  lower  and  nar- 
rower domain  he  did  not  wholly  appropriate,  but  leaving 
human  power,  as  power  of  reason  expressing  itself  in 
thought,  to  the  Greek,  seized  upon  power  of  will,  express- 
ing itself  in  action,  as  his  pecuHar  governing  idea.  The 
Roman,  as  such,  cared  little  for  distinctively  supernatu- 
ral and  spiritual  power  such  as  moved  the  Jew  ;  he  cared 
as  little  for  the  logical  and  aesthetic  power  of  the  Greek ; 
his  was  the  power  of  will,  his  the  beauty  of  action,  his 
the  logic  of  deeds.  He  became,  accordingly,  the  mighty 
worker  of  the  world,  casting  up  the  highways  across  em- 
pires, and  leaving  behind  him  public  improvements  in 
every  form  and  of  a  grandeur  fitted  to  astonish  the  race 
to  the  remotest  ages. 

Power  in  State  and  Law.  The  Romans  embodied 
their  peculiar  idea  of  power  in  the  state  as  the  repository 
of  law  and  justice.  The  will  of  the  individual  was  lost 
in  the  will  of  the  state,  the  Roman  lost  in  Rome.  Rome 
regarded  the  race  as  being  in  a  condition  of  anarchy,  so 
to  speak,  out  of  which  it  was  her  mission  to  bring  it. 
Her  power  was  power  ordered  and  organized,  taking  the 
form  of  law  and  government,  directing  and  controlling. 

Law,  and  duty,  or  obedience  to  law,  were  ideas  com- 
mon to  both  Jew  and  Roman.  But  the  Jew  taught  the 
world  law  in  its  statical,  divine,  and  eternal  relations. 
With  hlni  it  was  a  divine  precept  revealed  from  heaven, 


THE  ROMAN   CHARACTER.  159 

pointing  out  the  only  way  of  blessedness  and  perfection 
for  man  here  and  hereafter,  waiting  patiently  for  man  to 
come  up  to  its  requirements,  and  depending  for  its  en- 
forcement, not  so  much  upon  a  present  hand  of  power, 
as  upon  divine  sanctions  drawn  from  prophecy  and  all 
the  working  of  providence  and  from  the  distant  future. 
It  said  to  men  :  "  God  is  long-suffering  and  can  afford 
to  wait  ;  but  his  law  must  be  obeyed,  for  though  the 
punishment  of  rebellion  and  evil-doing  may  be  long  de- 
ferred it  will  surely  come  at  the  last,  since  God  is  su- 
preme." The  Roman,  on  the  contrary,  gave  the  world 
law  in  its  dynamic,  governmental,  and  temporal  aspects. 
With  him  it  was  not  a  precept  waiting  for  man  to  fall  in 
with  it,  but  the  expression  of  a  present  force,  the  organ- 
ized and  martial  might  of  Rome,  demanding  submission 
and  remorselessly  crushing  men  and  nations  into  its  iron 
moulds.  It  said  to  men  :  "  Rome  is  all-powerful  and  does 
not  choose  to  wait ;  therefore  yield  on  the  instant  or  die." 
The  career  of  the  Roman  was,  therefore,  one  of  conflict 
and  control ;  war  and  law  were  necessary  results  of  his 
nature.  We  are  accustomed  to  say  that  he  had  a  genius 
for  war  and  government. 

The  State,  divine  and  universal.  In  time  the  Roman 
deified  the  state  as  the  grandest  concrete  manifestation 
of  power.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  it  came  about.  The 
Jew  had  only  the  one  God  of  revelation,  Jehovah  ;  the 
Greek  had  as  many  gods  as  there  were  qualities  good  and 
bad  in  human  nature,  and  forces  productive  and  destruc- 
tive in  physical  nature  ;  the  Roman,  at  the  first,  accepted 
the  gods  of  the  Greek,  but  afterwards  remade  them  to 
suit  his  own  notions.  With  the  growth  of  his  power 
he  outgrew  them.  Jupiter,  Apollo,  Bacchus,  et  id  genus 
omne^  became  either  insignificant  or  dead  to  him.  The 
day  came  when  an  active,  mighty  embodiment  of  force, 
working  triumphantly  in  the  world's  great  changes,  alone 


160  MARK,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  ROMAN. 

could  claim  his  submission  ;  and  then  Janus,  the  god  of 
war,  was  exalted  to  the  high  place.  As  the  last  phase 
of  the  worship  of  Olympus,  Rome  herself  became  the 
god  of  the  world  in  virtue  of  being  the  mightiest  thing  in 
it,  and  Victory  became  the  embodied  symbol  of  national 
power  and  success.  Rome  thus  became  to  the  Roman  at 
once  the  kingdom  of  god  and  god. 

The  Roman  had  the  consciousness  of  being  born  to 
rule  the  world.  Under  the  special  protection  of  his  na- 
tional divinities  he  pushed  his  way  to  universal  empire. 

The  Embodiment  of  Natural  Justice.  In  carrying 
out  this  mission  the  man  of  power  became  the  .represen- 
tative of  natural  justice  in  the  world.  In  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  republic  he  was  narrow  and  unpractical. 
His  rule  was  then  essentially  one  of  caste,  for  it  was 
only  the  Roman  who  was  in  compact  with  heaven,  only 
the  Roman  to  whom  the  gods  of  Rome  vouchsafed  special 
protection.  It  is  true  that  the  broader  and  more  humane 
doctrines  of  Plato,  and  the  marked  providences  which 
prepared  for  the  Advent,  modified  and  somewhat  molli- 
fied his  views  at  a  later  date  ;  yet  it  must  still  be  ad- 
mitted that,  at  the  time  of  Christ,  with  something  of  the 
same  tenacity  with  which  the  Jew  clung  to  the  notion 
that  he  had  exclusive  claim  to  the  blessings  of  the  cove- 
nant with  Jehovah,  the  Roman  clung  to  the  opinion  that 
he  alone  was  privileged  and  ordained  of  heaven  to  rule 
mankind. 

As  his  ideas  broadened  through  contact  wdth  many 
nations  and  by  long  experience,  his  entire  system  of  laws 
came  to  be  mainly  controlled  by  those  principles  of  nat- 
ural justice  which  come  out  so  clearly  in  the  divine  ad- 
ministration of  the  world.  It  was  thus  that  in  pushing 
forward  the  conquest  of  the  world  he  became  fitted  to 
consolidate  those  concjuests,  and  appeared  at  the  last  as 
the  great  organizer  of  the  world  into  a  single  empire. 


THE  ROMAN    CHARACTER.  161 

The  Ideal  Roman.  The  grandest  Roman,  the  ideal 
man  of  the  race,  was  therefore  the  mightiest  worker, 
conqueror,  organizer,  and  ruler,  —  the  man  who  as  Ccesar  ^ 
could  sway  the  sceptre  of  universal  empire.  Csesar  and 
Ca3sarism  were  the  inevitable  last  result  of  Roman  de- 
velopment. 

II.    The  Key  to  3Iar¥s   G-ospel 

If  the  Roman  was,  as  thus  shown,  the  man  of  action, 
of  law  and  justice,  of  state  worship,  of  universal  empire, 
these  characteristics  must  furnish  the  key  to  the  Gospel 
intended  for  him. 

Setting  apart  from  all  other  men  this  man  of  power, 
—  in  the  day  when  his  splendid  visions  of  empire  had 
begun  to  fade,  when  disappointment  and  unrest  were 
taking  possession  of  his  soul,  and  when  he  had  been  made 
to  feel  most  deeply  that  natural  justice  in  the  hands  of  / 
a  human  despot  is  a  dreadful  thing  for  sinful  men,  — 
the  Holy  Ghost  proposes  to  commend  to  his  acceptance 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  his  Sovereign  and  Saviour,  the  ex- 
pected deliverer  of  the  world. 

How  shall  it  be  done  ?  Evidently  —  according  to  that 
law  of  divine  fitness  manifested  everywhere  in  God's 
working  —  in  that  way  which  is  best  suited  to  the  char- 
acter and  antecedents  of  the  Roman.  A  Gospel  for  the 
Roman  must  be  moulded  by  the  Roman  idea. 

Scriptures  and  prophecy,  so  potent  with  the  Jew,  would 
count  for  little  with  the  Roman  ;  he  was  ignorant  of  both. 
Reason  and  philosophy,  so  convincing  to  the  Greek,  Avould 
be  scoffed  at  by  the  Roman  ;  he  had  no  appreciation  of 
either.  Before  the  beginning  of  faith  he  was  blind  to 
the  grand  doctrines  so  precious  to  the  Christian.  The 
Gospel  for  him  must  present  the  character  and  career  of 
Jesus  from  the  Roman  side,  or  point  of  view,  as  answer- 
ing to  the  idea  of  divine  power,  work,  law,  conquest,  and 
11 


162  MARK,    THE   GOSPEL   FOB   THE   ROMAN. 

universal  sway.  It  must  exhibit  Jesus  as  adapted,  in 
his  power  and  mercy,  in  his  mission  and  work,  to  the 
wants  of  the  Roman  nature  and  world.  To  the  Roman 
these  are  the  credentials  of  Jesus,  no  less  essential  than 
prophecy  to  the  Jew,  or  philosophy  to  the  Greek.  With- 
out them  there  could  not  even  be  a  reasonable  hope  of 
arresting  his  attention. 

At  the  same  time,  while  making  the  most  of  every- 
thing correct  in  the  Roman  idea,  the  Gospel  must  aim  to 
correct  the  errors  in  it,  and  lift  it  to  the  level  of  the  di- 
vine idea. 

SECTION  III. 

THE   AUTHORSHIP   OF   THE   SECOND   GOSPEL. 

The  divine  adaptation  of  the  second  Gospel  to  the  Ro- 
man race  is  seen  in  the  selection  of  its  author  and  in  his 
preparation  for  his  task. 

I.  Mark, 

John  Mark  was  the  chosen  instrument,  in  connection 
with  the  Apostle  Peter.  He  was  the  son  of  an  influential 
Christian  matron  of  Jerusalem,  named  Mary,  in  whose 
house  the  believers  at  Jerusalem  were  wont  to  assemble 
(Acts  xii.  12).  He  was  evidently  already  known  and  es- 
teemed in  the  Church  and  identified  with  it,  when  Luke 
wrote  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  or  that  Evangelist  would 
not  have  introduced  the  mother  to  notice  by  naming  the 
son. 

Career  and  Character.  He  early  devoted  himself  to 
the  missionary  work,  accompanying  Paul  and  his  uncle 
Barnabas  on  their  return  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch 
(Acts  xiii.  25).  He  also  set  out  with  these  two  men 
on  their  joint  missionary  journey  (Acts  xiii.  5),  but 
turned  back  when  they  came  to  the  more  difficult  and 
dangerous  part  of  their  work,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem 


THE   AUTHORSHIP.  163 

(Acts  xiii.  13).  When  they  were  about  to  set  out  on 
a  second  journey  to  strengthen  the  churches,  and  extend 
the  Gospel,  Mark  was  at  Antioch,  and  his  uncle  proposed 
that  he  should  again  accompany  them,  but  Paul,  remem- 
bering his  former  ignominious  desertion,  refused  to  allow 
it,  and  separated  from  Barnabas  when  he  insisted  upon 
it  (Acts  XV.  37). 

This  so  pointed  and  vigorous  rebuke  seems  to  have 
had  a  salutary  effect.  We  find  Mark  afterward  at  Rome 
with  Paul  during  the  imprisonment  of  the  latter.  The 
Apostle  sends  salutations  from  him  to  the  Colossians 
(Col.  iv.  10).  In  the  second  Epistle  to  Timothy  he 
sends  for  him  because  he  has  found  him  a  valuable  as- 
sistant (2  Tim.  iv.  11).  In  his  Epistle  to  Philemon  he 
mentions  him  among  his  fellow-workers  and  sends  greet- 
ing to  him  (Philemon  21). 

The  same  Mark  is  also  found  associated,  probp.bly  at  a 
later  period,  with  the  Apostle  Peter.  He  sends  greeting 
by  Peter  from  Babylon  (1  Pet.  v.  13).  The  traditions 
of  the  early  Church  affirm  that  he  afterward  accompa- 
nied the  same  Apostle  to  the  westward,  and  even  to 
Rome.  After  the  death  of  Peter,  he  is  said  to  have 
preached  in  Africa,  especially  at  Alexandria,  where  he 
suffered  martyrdom  in  the  most  terrible  manner. 

In  these  facts  are  found  clear  indications  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  Evangelist.  Although  the  son  of  a  Jewess, 
and  bearing  a  name  of  special  significance  to  the  Jew 
(John,  gift  of  Jehovah)^  it  may,  perhaps,  be  justly  in- 
ferred from  the  prevailing  use  of  his  Roman  name,  Mark, 
that  he  was  preeminently  Roman  in  his  nature  and  de- 
velopment. He  was,  like  Peter,  originally  a  man  of  ac- 
tion rather  than  of  deep  and  abiding  principle,  a  man  of 
fervor  and  enthusiasm  rather  than  of  persevering  effort ; 
but  he  was  transformed,  by  the  power  of  the  same  Christ 
who  transformed  Peter,  into  the  man  of  rapid,  contin- 


164  MARK,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   ROMAN. 

lied  and  effective  effort  in  tlie  missionary  work  of  the 
Cburch. 

The  change  in  character  for  the  better  is  very  mani- 
fest in  what  is  known  of  his  history.  If,  as  has  been  sup- 
j^osed,  the  young  man  who  followed  Jesus  into  the  city, 
having  a  linen  cloth  about  him  (Mark  xiv.  15)  was  Mark, 
the  hasty  and  impulsive  character  appears  in  both  the 
following  and  the  flight.  It  appears  again  in  the  ready 
entrance  upon  the  missionary  work,  with  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas, and  in  the  equally  ready  desertion.  But  the  old 
enthusiasm  revives  and  brings  him  back  to  Antioch 
again,  and  he  engages  anew  in  the  work  and  m-akes  such 
progress  in  energy  and  principle  and  steadfastness  as  to 
become  one  of  Paul's  most  trusted  and  successful  helpers. 
After  endearing  himself  still  more  to  the  Apostle  Peter 
ill  their  mutual  work  across  the  Roman  world,  he  at  last 
bravely  dares  and  endures  the  martyr's  fate. 

Special  Training.  It  is  certain  that  his  training  was 
eminently  adapted  to  prepare  him  to  exert  an  influence 
on  the  man  of  power  and  action. 

Three  men  had  to  do  chiefly  with  the  shaping  of  his 
character  after  the  Roman  ideal.  He  was  made  to  feel 
the  influence  of  the  gentle  and  merciful  spirit  of  Barna- 
bas, whose  fellow-worker  for  Christ  he  was  in  his  early 
life.  He  received  the  impress  of  the  tremendous  sus- 
tained energy  of  Paul,  whose  companion  he  was  in  the 
Apostle's  earlier  ministry,  and  again  at  Rome  during  his 
captivity  (Col.  iv.  10  ;  Philemon  24).  He  was  moulded 
by  the  restless,  unwearying  activity  of  Peter,  whose  con- 
vert he  probably  was  (1  Pet.  v.  13),  whom  he  accom- 
panied in  his  mission  to  Babylon  (1  Pet.  v.  13),  and 
whose  interpreter  he  was  (according  to  the  Fathers)  in 
the  mission  to  Rome  in  which  the  Apostle  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom. 

While  being  thus  fashioned  in  character  by  these  great 


THE  AUTHORSHIP.  165 

Apostles  and  preachers,  he  was  providentially  brought 
into  the  widest  and  most  varied  contact  with  the  Em- 
pire, in  its  customs  and  language,  in  its  law  and  legions, 
from  the  centre  of  authority  at  Rome  to  its  remotest 
limits. 

It  likewise  seems  strikingly  providential  that  one  who 
had  come  so  largely  under  the  influence  of  the  two  men, 
Peter  and  Paul,  who  represented  the  Christian  idea  of 
the  conquest  of  the  whole  world  for  Christ  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  his  universal  kingdom  (Gal.  ii.  7-9), 
should  be  chosen  to  write  the  Gospel  for  the  Roman,  the 
man  of  universal  empire. 

II.  Peter. 

But  the  instrument,  so  fitted  in  character  and  training 
for  the  work  of  commending  Jesus  to  the  man  of  power, 
needed  still  to  be  supplemented.  Mark  was  probably  not 
personally  cognizant  of  the  facts  of  the  Gospel,  save  per- 
haps the  later  ones.  Peter,  the  man  of  deeds  rather 
than  words,  was  therefore  appointed  to  supply  in  his 
preaching,  out  of  his  vivid  memory,  and  after  his  strik- 
ing manner,  the  materials  for  the  Gospel,  while  Mark 
was  appointed,  under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  in  accordance  with  his  character  and  training,  to 
give  it  final  shaping. 

Career  and  Character.  No  more  remarkable  charac- 
ter appears  in  Gospel  history  than  Simon  Peter.  Nor  is 
there  a  more  remarkable  instance  of  the  transforming 
power  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  first  words  addressed  to  him  by  Jesus  laid  open 
his  character,  as  he  was  at  that  time,  and  predicted  what 
he  should  become  through  his  acknowledgment  of  the 
Messiah  (John  i.  42)  :  "  TJiou  art  Simon  the  son  of 
Jona,"  the  hearkening,  timid  one,  the  unstable  man ; 
"  thou  shalt  be  called,"  and,  according  to  the  Hebrew 
idea,  slialt  becorrie,  "  Cephas,"  rock,  the  stable  man. 


166       MAEK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

Peter  had  the  prime  quality  of  the  man  of  action,  — 
his  thoughts  had  the  closest  possible  connection  with  the 
nerves  of  voluntary  motion.  With  him  for  a  thought  to 
come  into  his  mind  was  to  have  it  express  itself  on  the 
instant,  at  the  end  of  the  tongue,  in  the  hand,  or  by  the 
feet.     He  was  the  impulsive  man. 

But  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  career  he  had  also  a 
marked  defect,  which  went  far  toward  making  his  activity 
mere  unprincipled  and  irrational  motion  instead  of  ra- 
tional, noble  action,  — the  want  of  a  settled  purpose  and 
grand  governing  motive  pervading  and  controlling  all 
the  workings  of  his  mind.  Jesus,  the  Christ,  was  to 
furnish  him  with  that,  and  thus  to  change  the  unstable 
Simon  Jona  into  the  stable  Cephas. 

In  his  early  course  instability,  fickleness,  was  his  most 
prominent  characteristic.  When  Jesus  came  to  the  dis- 
ciples, walking  on  the  water,  it  was  Peter  that  made 
haste  to  meet  him,  but  whose  faith  failed  on  the  instant 
(Matt.  xiv.  28-31).  It  was  Peter  who,  in  Christ's  ex- 
tremity, declared  that  he  would  die  rather  than  forsake 
his  Master,  but  who  in  the  midst  of  peril  denied  him 
thrice  and  with  added  profanity  before  the  cock  crew 
(Matt.  xxvi.  33-35,  69-75).  It  was  the  impulsive  Peter 
who  ran  to  the  sepuchre,  at  the  report  of  the  women,  and 
rushed  past  John  into  the  tomb  to  examine  the  burial 
vestments  (John  xx.  3-10)  ;  but  it  was  also  Peter  who 
in  ten  days  was  ready  to  propose  a  return  to  the  old  oc- 
cupation on  the  Lake  of  Tiberias  (John  xxi.  3),  as  if 
despairing  of  anything  from  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  When 
Jesus  came  to  the  shore  of  Tiberias  where  the  disciples 
were  fishing,  it  was  Peter  who,  seeing  his  Lord,  jumped 
into  the  sea  and  swam  ashore  to  him.  After  his  Master, 
thrice  addressing  him  as  Simon  Jona,  to  fix  the  old  sin 
and  fickleness  in  his  heart,  had  restored  him  to  the  place 
of  grace  and  apostleship  from  which  he  had  fallen,  it  was 


THE  AUTHORSHIP.  167 

Peter  who  almost  immediately  asked  that  prying  ques- 
tion, ''  And  what  shall  this  man  do  ?  "  which  called  forth 
again  the  sharp  rebuke  of  the  Saviour.  Even  long  after 
he  had  entered  upon  the  full  work  of  an  Apostle,  when 
the  question  of  the  circumcision  of  the  converted  heathen 
came  up,  Peter  was  the  waverer  and  Paul  was  forced  to 
withstand  him  to  the  face  (Gal.  ii.  11  ;  Acts  xv.  7-11). 

Special  Training.  Nevertheless  one  caimot  run  in 
thought  along  his  career  without  the  growing  conviction, 
that  he  made  constantly  increasing  progress  in  stability 
of  character  and  fixedness  of  purpose  all  the  way  to  tlie 
last.  It  was  Peter  who  stood  up  at  Pentecost,  and  in 
that  recorded  sermon  distinctly  accused  the  Jews  of 
murdering  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  boldly  proclaimed  his 
resurrection  and  Messiahship  (Acts  ii.  22-36).  It  was 
Peter  who  in  the  days  of  persecution  dared  to  defy  the 
magistrates,  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  in  that  noble  asser- 
tion of  liberty  of  conscience  :  "  Whether  it  be  right  in 
the  sight  of  God  to  hearken  unto  you  more  than  unto 
God,  judge  ye  "  (Acts  iv.  19).  It  was  Cephas  of  whom 
Paul  wrote  as  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  mother  church  at 
Jerusalem  (Gal.  ii.  9).  According  to  tradition,  Peter, 
when  about  to  be  crucified,  besought  that  it  might  be 
with  his  head  downward,  since  he  who  had  once  denied 
the  Master  was  unworthy  to  die  as  the  Master  had  died. 
So  fully  did  Jesus,  the  Christ,  infuse  into  his  soul  that 
one  grand  purpose  which  came  to  control  all  his  life. 

The  remarkable  development  of  his  faculty  for  practi- 
cal work  and  organization  is  equally  manifest.  His  quick, 
impulsive  nature  prepared  him  to  be  a  leader  of  men. 
The  infusing  of  a  grand  governing  principle  was  also  a 
requisite  for  leadership.  It  is  evident  that  Christ  took 
advantage  of  these  characteristics  and  made  him,  in  a 
sense,  a  leader  in  the  early  Church.  The  natural  impulse 
to  leadership  comes  out  in  such  instances  as  Peter's  pro- 


168  MARK,    THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  ROMAN. 

posal  to  build  tents  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration 
(Matt.  xvii.  4),  and  to  elect  a  new  Apostle  in  the  place 
of  Judas  (Acts  i.  15-22)  ;  and  in  many  of  the  incidents 
just  referred  to  as  illustrating  his  original  character. 
The  divine  calling  to  leadership  appears  from  the  repre- 
sentative place  given  to  Peter  in  conferring  upon  the 
Church  the  power  of  the  keys  (Matt.  xvi.  18,  19)  ;  from 
the  prominent  place  accorded  him  in  the  wonderful 
events  of  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  14,  38)  ;  and  from  the  in- 
spired acknowledgment  of  his  relation  to  the  Jewish 
world  by  Paul  (Gal.  ii.  7-9).  It  is  therefore  manifestly 
true  that,  as  the  Head  of  the  Church  has  in  all  ages  since 
selected  and  trained  men  for  the  special  work  of  organ- 
izers, so  in  the  apostolic  age  he  selected  and  trained 
Peter  for  such  a  work.  It  was  in  this  way  that  Jesus 
completed  the  character  of  Peter,  the  man  of  action. 
His  thought  still  remained  so  closely  connected  with  the 
power  of  action,  the  man  the  quick  impulsive  man  still ; 
but  the  profound  Christian  principle  which  had  been  in- 
fused brought  the  thought  to  be  always  true,  the  impulse 
to  be  always  right,  so  that  consistent  and  continued  ac- 
tion at  length  made  him  in  large  measure  the  genuine 
representative  of  the  unwearying,  all-conquering,  all- 
organizing  Roman. 

It  was  this  Apostle,  who  loved  action  better  than  logic, 
who  saw  deeds  rather  than  heard  doctrines,  who  felt  the 
need  of  earnest  and  consistent  activity  more  than  of  a 
profound  and  harmonious  creed,  —  this  Apostle  whose  in- 
tense personal  affection  for  Jesus  had  made  him  watch 
every  act  and  gesture  and  look  and  word  of  his  divine 
Master,  —  that  was  chosen  to  preach  that  Gospel  which 
Mark  was  commissioned  to  record  for  the  Romans. 

These  two,  Mark  and  Peter,  formed  the  one  perfect  in- 
strument, the  one  complete  medium  for  introducing  Je- 
sus to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  Roman  race  of 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  169 

that  age.  No  other  men,  equally  fitted  for  embodying 
the  Gospel  in  permanent  form  for  the  man  of  action  and 
control,  can  be  pointed  out  in  connection  with  the  apos- 
tolic body.  Neither  of  these  men  could  have  accom- 
plished the  work  alone ;  for,  even  if  Mark  was  of  Roman 
birth  and  nature,  he  had  not  the  facts  of  the  Gospel ; 
and  even  if  Peter  was  a  man  of  action  and  trained  as 
such,  he  was  at  the  same  time  of  Jewish  birth  and  nat- 
ure. The  two  were  indispensable.  The  impulse  which 
led  the  Romans  to  ask  for  the  permanent  record  of  the 
Gospel,  and  that  which  led  Mark  and  Peter  to  accede  to 
their  request,  were  both  from  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit 
of  all  wisdom  and  power.  Doubtless,  out  of  all  the  men 
of  that  age,  the  Holy  Ghost  chose  the  men  best  fitted  in 
their  character  and  experience  to  prepare  and  write  the 
Gospel  for  the  Roman  world. 


CHAPTER  n. 

CRITICAL  VIEW   OF    THE  ROMAN  ADAPTATION  OF  THE 
SECOND   GOSPEL. 

In  examining  the  second  Gospel,  in  the  light  of  its 
ascertained  origin,  design,  and  authorship,  its  peculiar 
adaptation  to  the  needs  of  the  Roman  of  that  age  will 
become  apparent.  The  order  adopted  in  treating  of  the 
first  Gospel  will  be  followed  in  treating  of  the  second. 

SECTION  L 

THE   ROMAN   ADAPTATION    IN  THE    GENERAL  PLAN   OF 
THE   SECOND   GOSPEL. 

The  propriety  of  seeking  for  a' plan  of  the  Evangelist, 
different  from  that  given  by  the  division   into  sixteen 


170  MARK,    THE    GOSPEL   FOR   THE    ROMAN. 

chapters,  has  already  been. shown,  in  preparing  the  way 
for  the  analysis  of  Matthew's  Gospel. 

By  examining  the  second  Gospel  with  the  aid  of  its 
known  origin  and  aim,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  may  be  nat- 
urally and  conveniently  divided,  as  that  of  Matthew  was 
divided,  into  three  principal  parts,  —  presenting  the  suc- 
cessive stages  of  the  work  of  Jesus,  the  Divine  Con- 
queror, in  establishing  his  universal  empire,  the  kingdom 
of  God, —  with  an  appropriate  introduction  and  conclu- 
sion. 

In  these  divisions  the  character  and  career  of  Jesus  are 
unfolded,  not  from  the  Jewish  point  of  view,  but  in  those 
aspects  which  are  peculiarly  Roman. 


OUTLINE   OF  THE   SECOND   GOSPEL. 
INTRODUCTION. 

The  Advent  of  the  King  and  Conqueror.  The  Evan- 
gelist brings  forward  the  Almighty  King  in  his  Divine 
Person  and  Kingdom,     i.  1-ii.  12. 

Section  1.  Jesus  is  exhibited  as  being  the  Divine  Son 
of  God.     i.  1-13. 

A.  In  his  name  and  heralding.     1-8. 

B.  In  his  divine  recognition  at  the  baptism,  and  in 
the  subjection  of  Satan,  the  wild  beasts,  and  the  angelic 
world,  at  the  temptation.     9-13. 

Section  2.  Jesus  is  exhibited  mightily  proclaiming  the 
kingdom  of  power,     i.  14-ii.  12. 

A.  In  his  opening  proclamation  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
in  Galilee,  and  the  call  of  the  first  subjects,     i.  14-20. 

B.  In  his  opening  works  of  power  in  Galilee,  rising 
gradually  to  the  authoritative  pardon  of  sin,  foreshadow- 
ing the  future  of  the  kingdom,  and  rousing  the  people. 
i.  21-ii.  12. 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  171 

a.  The  authoritative  teaching  in  the  synagogue  at  Ca- 
pernaum, the  manifold  works  of  power  there,  and  the 
rising  fame.     i.  21-34. 

h.  The  morning  of  solitary  prayer,  followed  by  the 
circuit  of  Galilee,  with  innumerable  works  of  power,  re- 
sulting in  blazing  abroad  his  fame.     i.  35-45. 

c.  The  subsequent  return  to  Capernaum,  the  preaching 
of  the  word,  the  assumption  of  the  divine  prerogative  of 
forgiving  sin,  amazing  the  people  and  leading  them  to 
glorify  God.     ii.  1-12. 

PAKT  I. 

The  Conflict  of  the  Almighty  King.  The  Evangelist 
exhibits  Jesus  in  the  teaching,  work,  and  conflict  of  the 
period  of  public  ministry  devoted  to  the  continued  pro- 
clamation of  the  coming  Kingdom  of  Power,  ii.  13- 
viii.  26. 

Section  1.  He  presents  the  teachings  of  Jesus  con- 
cerning the  foundations  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  ii.  13- 
V.  43. 

A.  In  the  subjects  and  law  of  the  kingdom,  ii.  13- 
iii.  35. 

a.  They  are  sinners,  and  not  formalist  Pharisees,  ii. 
13-iii.  12. 

h.  The  first  subjects  are  called  out  of  all  classes,  and 
include  all  those  whose  law  is  the  will  of  the  Father,  iii. 
13-35. 

B.  In  the  law  of  growth  and  development  in  the  king- 
dom,    iv.  1-34. 

a.  By  the  quiet  outgrowth  of  truth  in  the  heart  (the 
Sower).     1-25. 

h.  Yet  independent  of  the  will  and  effort  of  man  (tlie 
Seed-corn).     26-29. 

c.  And  destined  to  fill  the  whole  earth  with  its  great- 
ness (the  Mustard-seed).     30-34. 


172  MARK,   THE  GOSPEL   FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

C.  In  the  power  of  the  King,  who  is  omnipotent,  iv. 
35-v.  43. 

a.  Power  over  nature,  in  stilling  the  storm,    iv.  35-41. 

h.  Power  over  the  world  of  spirits  and  of  irrational 
beings,  in  healing  the  Gadarene  demoniac  and  destroying 
the  swine,     v.  1-20. 

c.  Power  over  the  kingdom  of  disease  and  death,  in 
healing  the  woman  with  the  issue  of  blood,  and  in.  rais- 
ing the  daughter  of  Jairus.     v.  21-43. 

Section  2.  He  presents  Jesus,  in  the  activity  of  the 
work  of  the  kingdom,  passing  through  a  series  of  con- 
flicts and  withdrawals,     vi.  1-Tiii.  26. 

A.  Conflict  in  Nazareth  with  his  old  neighbors,  leaving 
them  in  unbelief,     vi.  1-6  (a). 

B.  Conflict  in  Galilee,  in  connection  with  the  mission 
of  the  Twelve,  and  resulting  in  withdrawal  across  the 
Sea  of  GaUlee.     vi.  6  (b)-52. 

a.  The  mission  and  work  of  the  Twelve.     6  (b)-13. 

h.  The  terror  of  Herod  at  the  report  of  it,  and  the 
reason  for  that  terror.     14-29. 

c.  The  return  and  withdrawal  of  the  Twelve,  with 
the  symbolical  miracles  of  power  and  mercy,  —  the 
loaves  and  fishes  and  walking  upon  the  storm-tossed  lake. 
30-52. 

C.  Conflict  renewed  in  Galilee  (in  Gennesaret),  re- 
sulting in  rejection  by  Jerusalem  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
and  withdrawal  to  Gentile  borders,     vi.  53-viii.  9. 

a.  The  return  to  Gennesaret,  the  miracles,  and  the  con- 
troversy concerning  unwashen  hands,     vi.  53-vii.  23. 

5.  The  withdrawal  to  the  Gentiles,  and  the  miracles 
of  grace,  in  healing  the  daughter  of  the  Syro-Phenician 
woman  in  the  borders  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  in  restor- 
ing the  deaf  and  dumb  man  and  feeding  the  four  thou- 
sand beyond  the  Sea  of  Galilee,     vii.  24-viii.  9. 

D.  Conflict  renewed  in  Galilee,  in  Dalmanutha,  with 


THE   GENERAL  PLAN.  173 

the  local  Pharisees,  and  the  withdrawal  and  work  of 
mercy  on  the  blind  man  in  Bethsaida  Julias,  yiii.  10- 
26. 

PART  n. 

The  Claim  of  the  Ahnighty  King.  The  Evangelist 
exhibits  Jesus,  tlie  Almighty  Conqueror,  as  distinctly 
claiming  the  right  to  the  Kingdom  of  Power,  to  be  won 
through  suffering  and  rejection,  and  both  explaining  and 
maintaining  his  claim,     viii.  27-xiii.  37. 

Section  1.  He  presents  Jesus  teaching  his  followers 
that  the  kingdom  is  to  be  won  by  triumph  over  suffering 
and  death,     viii.  27-x.  45. 

A.  In  a  first  revelation,  occasioned  by  the  confession 
of  Peter,  foretelling  the  rejection  of  "  the  son  of  man  " 
hy  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim^  followed  by  exhibitions  of  di- 
vine glory,  and  by  exertions  of  divine  power  which  are 
traced  to  the  secret  source  of  all  power,    viii.  27-ix.  29. 

B.  In  a  second  revelation,  foretelling  the  treachery  of 
his  own  followers,  and  followed  by  a  period  of  instruction 
in  the  duties  of  subjects  in  the  kingdom,    ix.  3G-x.  31. 

C.  In  a  third  revelation,  foretelling  his  death  hy  the 
Roman  riders,  and  followed  by  instruction  concerning 
the  way  for  the  subjects  to  rise  to  power  in  the  kingdom. 
x.  32-45. 

Section  2.  He   presents    Jesus    claiming    the   right  to 
the  kingdom  of  power,  in  the  city  of  David,  and  estab- 
lishing his  claim,  although  rejected  by  the  Jews.    x.  46- 
xiii.  37. 

A.  In  his  public  advent  as  the  almighty  heir  of  Da- 
vid, and  in  the  accompanying  works  of  power,  x.  46- 
xi.  26. 

a.  At  Jericho  listening  to  the  appeal  of  Bartlmeus. 
X.  46-52. 

h.  At  the  triumphal  entry  into  the  Holy  City.  xi.  1- 
10. 


174       MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

(?.  In  cursing  the  fig-tree  and  assuming  royal  authority 
in  the  temple,  and  in  revealing  anew  the  source  of  all 
true  power,     xi.  11-26. 

B.  In  his  conflict  with  and  overwhelming  triumph  over 
the  various  leading  classes,     xi.  2T-xii.  44. 

a.  Jesus  on  the  defensive,  —  against  the  Sanhedrim, 
the  Pharisees  and  Plerodians,  the  Sadducees  and  the 
Scribes,     xi.  27-xii.  34. 

h,  Jesus  taking  the  offensive,  warning  against  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Scribes,  and  contrasting  with  their  religion 
the  genuine  piety  of  the  poor  widow,     xii.  35-44. 

C.  In  his  prophetic  unfolding,  for  his  disciples,  of  both 
the  near  and  remote  future  of  Jerusalem  and  his  king- 
dom,    xiii.  1-37. 

a.  The  events  preceding  the  future  coming.     1-23. 
h.  The  coming  of  the  king  in  power  and  glory  and  the 
urgent  call  for  watchfulness  and  prayerfulness.     24-37. 

PAET  III. 

The  Sacrifice  of  the  Almighty  King.  The  Evan- 
gelist exhibits  Jesus,  preparing  for  the  setting  up  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Power  through  his  sacrificial  sufferings  and 
death,     xiv.  1-xv.  47. 

Section  1.  He  presents  the  preliminary  preparation 
for  his  death,     xiv.  1-41. 

A.  In  the  plotting  of  the  Sanhedrim,  the  anointing  for 
the  burial,  and  the  treachery  of  Judas.     1-11. 

B.  In  the  Passover  supper,  when  Jesus  puts  himself 
symbolically  in  the  place  of  the  paschal  sacrifice.     12-26. 

C.  In  the  sorrow  over  the  foreseen  desertion,  and  in 
the  struggle  with  the  terrors  of  death  in  Gethsemane. 
27-41. 

Section  2.  He  presents  Jesus  in  the  hands  of  his 
enemies,  the  sinful  leaders  and  rulers  of  the  Jewish  na- 
tion,    xiv.  42-xv.  47. 


THE   CENTRAL   IDEA.  175 

A.  In  his  betrayal  and  apprehension,     xiv.  42-52. 

B.  In  his  trial  before  the  Sanhedrim.     53-72. 

C.  In  his  trial  and  delivering  up  by  Pilate,     xv.  1-15. 

D.  In  the  hands  of  the  executioners,  the  Roman  sol- 
diers, —  in  the  Praetorium,  on  the  way  to  Golgotha,  and 
on  the  cross.     16-41. 

E.  Under  the  power  of  death.     42-47. 

CONCLUSIOIT. 

The  Universal  Empire  established.  The  Evan- 
gelist exhibits  Jesus,  the  Almighty  King,  conquering 
death  and  taking  the  universal  Kingdom,     xvi.  1-20. 

Section  1.  He  presents  him  as  rising  from  the  dead 
and  convincing  his  disciples  of  his  identity,     xvi.  1-14. 

Section  2.  He  presents  him  as  actually  establishing 
the  universal  kingdom,     xv.  15-20. 

A.  In  the  Great  Commission  with  its  promise  of  grace. 
15-18. 

B.  In  the  assumption  of  divine  authority  in  heaven.  19. 

C.  In  cooperating  with  his  disciples  in  the  fulfillment 
of  the  Great  Commission.     20. 

SECTION  II. 

THE  ROMAN  ADAPTATION  IN  THE  CENTBAL  IDEA  OF 
THE   SECOND  GOSPEL. 

The  outline  thus  given  may  be  left  to  witness  for  itself 
that  the  second  Gospel  was  prepared  by  Mark  for  Roman 
readers.  In  connection  with  its  systematic  exhibition  of 
the  material  of  the  Gospel,  it  may  more  readily  be  shown 
how  the  central  idea  and  general  drift  of  Mark's  produc- 
tion confirm  the  historical  testimony  regarding  the  Ro- 
man aim  of  the  Evangelist. 


176       MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

I.    The  Central  Idea, 

It  is  a  principle,  now  coming  to  be  generally  admitted, 
that  in  all  literature  the  organic  idea  will  give  shape  to 
the  characters,  incidents,  metaphors,  diction,  and  phrase- 
ology, —  to  the  entire  tone  and  tenor  of  a  production,  — 
a  principle  that  holds  not  less  clearly  in  Matthew's  or 
Mark's  Gospel  than  in  Shakespeare's  Hamlet.  One  of 
the  very  first  inquiries,  therefore,  must  be  :  What  is  the 
central  or  organic  idea  of  the  second  Gospel  ? 

The  central  idea  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Mark  is 
found  in  the  opening  verse :  "  The  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  the  Son  of  God  (Mark  i.  1).  The  Evangelist, 
accordingly,  presents  Jesus,  not  as  the  fulfillment  of  a  past 
divine  revelation,  as  does  Matthew ;  nor  as  the  satisfac- 
tion of  present  human  yearning,  as  does  Luke  ;  nor  as  the 
foundation  of  the  future  Church,  as  does  John  ;  but  as 
the  personal  embodiment  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  the  full- 
ness of  his  present,  living  energy,  demonstrating  himself 
the  Son  of  God  by  his  divine  working.  Everything,  from 
the  opening  with  the  mission  of  the  Baptist  to  the  closing 
vision  of  Jesus  exalted  to  the  throne  of  God,  is  so  shaped 
as  to  deepen  the  impression  of  his  almighty  power. 

This  Gospel  represents  him  as  proclaiming  and  estab- 
lishing a  kingdom,  but  it  is  a  kingdom  of  power,  and  not 
of  prophecy.  While,  therefore,  Mark  has  so  much  in  com- 
mon with  Matthew  that  manj^  insist  that  he  is  a  mere 
copyist  or  abridger,  there  is  yet  this  wide  difference,  that 
whereas  Matthew  rests  wholly  on  prophecy,  Mark  is  so 
entirely  independent  of  prophecy  that,  after  the  opening 
verses,  he  never  even  records  the  words  of  a  prophet,  ex- 
cept as  he  quotes  from  the  mouth  of  Jesus. 

For  the  Roman,  the  mighty  worker  and  conqueror  of 
the  world,  Jesus  is  held  up  as  the  divine  almighty  worker 
and  victor.     While  Matthew  furnishes  us  with  the  an- 


THE   CENTRAL   IDEA.  177 

cient  types  of  Christianity,  Luke  with  its  inmost  con- 
nection with  the  unchanging  heart  of  humanity,  and  John 
with  its  deeper  spiritual  mysteries,  Mark  holds  up  "  the 
picture  of  the  sovereign  power  of  Jesus,  battling  with, 
evil  among  men  swayed  to  and  fro  with  tumultuous  pas- 
sions." 

Lange,  in  the  Introduction  to  his  Commentary  on  this 
Gospel,  has  attempted  —  and  with  success  —  to  show 
that  the  Gospel  may  be  divided  into  "  a  progressive  series 
of  victorious  conflicts,"  beginning  with  the  conquest  of 
the  four  chosen  Apostles  and  ending  with  the  final  sub- 
jection and  possession  of  the  whole  world.  Through 
perpetual  victory  —  victory  even  in  seeming  defeat,  —  the 
King,  the  incarnation  of  almighty  power,  moves  on  to 
realize  the  Roman  ideal  of  universal  dominion.  It  is 
therefore  the  almighty  conqueror,  and  not  the  servant 
(symbolized  by  the  ox  of  prophecy)  as  the  allegorical  in- 
terpreters would  have  it,  that  appears  in  Mark's  delinea- 
tion of  Jesus. 

But  since  the  Roman  had  felt  the  crushing  power  of 
the  iron  kingdoin  and  the  remorseless  cruelty  of  the  fero- 
cious beast  of  prophecy,  Mark  presents  with  peculiar  dis- 
tinctness the  diviner  aspects  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  —  its 
spirituality  and  mercy  no  less  than  its  power  and  right- 
eousness. This  great  world-conflict  and  conquest,  so 
realizing  the  Roman  idea  and  yet  so  surpassing  it,  is 
everywhere  represented  as  carried  on  with  spiritual  forces 
and  weapons,  and  for  spiritual  ends.  In  retirement  from 
men  and  in  communion  with  the  heavenly  world  the  king 
is  girded  for  the  battle.  No  noise  of  spear  or  battle-axe 
is  heard,  for  the  contest  is  waged  against  the  devil,  his 
demons  and  his  human  agents  in  the  world.  The  re- 
moval of  the  miseries  of  the  world  is  sought  through  the 
forgiveness  and  eradication  of  sin.  The  Conqueror 
crushes   into   fragments   the   old   social   world,    but    he 

12 


178  MARK,    THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   ROMAN. 

crushes  it  in  mercy  ;  and  lie  reconstructs  it  not  as  tlie 
Roman  has  done  — in  the  moulds  of  resistless  and  savage 
justice,  —  but  by  the  law  of  righteousness  and  charity. 
The  false  Roman  idea  of  power,  weapons,  conflict,  victory, 
and  empire  are  discarded,  and  true  spiritual  ideas  made 
increasingly  prominent  from  the  opening  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  close. 

There  are  suffering  and  death  in  the  kingdom,  as  in 
the  earthly  kingdom,  but  they  are  transformed.  The 
suffering  is  not  inflicted  upon  the  vanquished,  but  en- 
dured by  the  victor  for  the  sake  of  the  victory  of  mercy 
and  blessing.  The  death  is  borne  by  the  conqueror  to 
furnish  the  foundation  and  the  beginning  of  a  higher  life 
of  blessedness  for  all  the  king's  subjects.  To  the  Roman, 
with  his  deepening  sense  of  misery  under  the  stern  reign 
of  natural  justice,  as  imperfectly  embodied  in  Rome, 
Mark  makes  his  exhibition  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the 
fullest  signification  a  Gospel^  by  portraying  the  career 
of  the  King  and  his  conquering  hosts  as  subordinately 
a  career  of  humble  service,  of  kindly  ministrations,  of 
boundless  sacrifices,  of  cheerful  suffering,  and  even  of  vol- 
luitary  death,  in  order  to  save  the  perishing  race  from  its 
heavy  woes.  The  complete  triumph  is  reached  in  the 
final  conquest  of  death  and  the  world. 

In  the  great  features  of  both  character  and  career, 
Jesus  eclipses  all  that  is  mightiest  and  best  in  the  old 
Roman  ideal,  while  at  the  same  time  correcting  and 
exalting  it. 

II.   The   General  Drift. 

The  influence  of  this  central  Roman  idea  is  manifest 
throughout  the  second  Gospel,  in  a  general  movement 
and  drift  quite  unlike  that  of  the  other  Gospels. 

Rising  above  all  the  details  of  the  Gospel  according  to 
Mark,  Da  Costa  has  clearly  pointed   out  certain  pecul- 


THE   CENTRAL  IDEA.  179 

iarly  Roman  and  soldierly  features  that  characterize  it  as 
a  whole.  By  a  deliberate  comparison  he  finds  that  its 
style  bears  a  close  resemblance  to  that  of  Ca3sar's  Com- 
mentaries, —  both  exhibiting  the  same  emphatic  repeti- 
tion combined  with  the  same  rapidity  of  movement,  the 
same  copiousness  of  description  with  the  same  dramatic 
effect,  so  that  even  the  word  straightway  (cv^cco?)  — 
which  is  so  characteristic  of  Mark,  being  employed  in  his 
Gospel  about  forty  times  —  appears  in  the  writings  of 
the  great  Roman  captain  in  the  ever-recurring  celeriter. 
No  work  of  old  Roman,  in  short,  was  ever  more  Roman 
in  its  rhetorical  movement  than  the  Gospel  according  to 
Mark. 

With  an  aim  differing  from  that  of  the  present  work, 
and  yet  in  a  form  suited  to  the  present  purpose,  the  same 
distinguished  author  has  called  this  Gospel,  "  The  brief 
and  terse  narrative  of  that  three  years'  campaign^  so  to 
speak,  of  the  supreme  Captain  of  our  salvation  —  whose 
name  from  of  old  was  Warrior  as  well  as  Prince  of 
Peace^  —  carried  on  and  completed,  for  the  deliverance  of 
our  souls,  the  bruising  of  Satan,  the  glorifying  of  the 
Father,  in  his  labors,  his  sufferings,  his  death,  his  resur- 
rection and  final  triumph."  ^ 

This  moulding  of  the  entire  material  by  the  Roman 
aim  of  the  Evangelist  may  be  traced  through  the  Gospel. 

In  the  Introduction,  Jesus  is  brought  forward  at  once 
as  the  Son  of  God,  and  by  a  few  rapid  and  graphic  strokes 
is  exalted  to  the  very  throne  of  the  God  of  power. 

To  follow  these  rapid  strokes  in  detail :  a  mighty 
prophet  appears  to  herald  the  coming  of  one  infinitely 
mightier,  the  Lord  ;  at  the  baptism  of  that  mightier  One 
the  heavens  are  rent  open  in  acknowledgment  of  his 
Divinity  ;  and  when  the  Spirit  has  driven  him  into  the 
wilderness  three  worlds  gather  round  him.  John  is  cast 
1  The,  Four  Witnesses,  pp.  HI,  135. 


180       MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

into  prison,  and  the  wonder-working  activity  of  this  Son 
of  God  begins  at  once.  He  proclaims  the  kingdom  of 
God  at  hand.  He  calls  men,  and  they  straightway  follow 
him.  He  enters  the  synagogue  at  Capernaum  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  at  07ice  begins  to  teach  ;  the  audience  is  as- 
tonished at  the  authority  of  his  teaching ;  a  demon  recog- 
nizes his  divinity  and  proclaims  it,  and  is  expelled  by  his 
power.  Men  are  amazed  at  the  omnipotence  of  his  com- 
mand, and  his  fame  immediately  spreads  through  Gali- 
lee. 

And  in  this  same  life-like  manner  he  is  hurried  from 
miracle  to  more  notable  miracle,  from  fame  to  more  gen- 
eral fame,  and  from  power  to  still  greater  power,  until, 
in  the  space  of  forty-four  verses,  we  find  him  exalted  to 
the  place  of  God^  the  righteous,  moral  Governor  of  the 
universe,  forgiving  the  sins  of  the  poor  paralytic,  while 
the  people,  in  their  amazement,  glorify  God,  who  is  re- 
vealed there  as  they  had  never  seen  before. 

Although  all  the  main  facts  of  this  Introduction  apj^ear 
in  the  other  Gospels,  yet  it  is  as  different  from  them  all 
as  if  every  one  of  its  facts  were  new.  Everything  in  it 
is  familiar  as  possible,  and  yet  the  delineation  is  as  vivid 
as  if  everything  were  strange  as  possible.  Throughout 
there  is  just  the  logic  to  attract  the  attention  and  arouse 
the  interest  of  the  man  of  power,  who  is  too  much  given 
to  making  history  to  stop  to  interpret  prophecy,  too  much 
engaged  in  rapid  doing  to  pause  for  slow  philosophizing, 
and  too  much  absorbed  in  reorganizing  and  remould- 
ing the  present  visible  world  to  be  disposed  directly  to 
give  heed  to  the  facts  of  an  invisible  and  spiritual  world, 
—  just  the  logic  for  the  Roman. 

Part  First  of  Mark's  Gospel,  exhibiting  the  foundations 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  may  be  looked  upon  as  corre- 
sponding in  part  to  Matthew  v.  1-ix.  35,  to  Luke  vi.-vii., 
and  to  John  iii.     Comparing  it  with  these,  there  is  noth- 


THE   CENTRAL   IDEA.  181 

ing  in  it  of  that  reference  to  Judaism  as  the  basis  of  tlie 
law  of  the  kingdom,  in  which  Matthew  abounds  ;  noth- 
ing of  the  philosophic  presentation  of  the  world- embrac- 
ing law  of  charity  to  which  Luke  —  writing  for  the  nni- 
versal  man  —  devotes  his  space  ;  nothing  of  the  theology 
of  the  new  life  in  which  John  delights.  In  short,  Mark 
drops  entirely  the  form  of  connected  discourse  in  which 
the  other  Evangelists  present  the  fundamental  ideas  of 
the  kingdom  and  gives  the  character  of  the  subjects,  the 
law  of  growth  and  the  power  of  the  King,  by  a  rapid 
succession  of  incidents,  parables,  and  miracles,  in  what, 
for  ease  of  execution  and  vividness  of  effect,  must  be  ac- 
knowledged an  incomparable  picture. 

In  the  Introduction  and  Part  First,  Jesus  appears  as 
the  Son  of  God,  wielding  almighty  power  in  its  most  tan- 
gible forms^  in  the  former  exercising  the  prerogatives  of 
God  himself,  and  in  the  latter  demonstrating  himself 
Lord  of  the  universe.  The  Roman,  the  man  of  power,  is 
thus  as  irresistibly  attracted  toward  him,  as  the  Jew,  the 
man  of  prophecy,  is  by  the  genealogy  of  Messiali  and 
other  opening  features  of  Matthew,  and  as  the  Greek, 
the  world-man,  is  by  the  philosophic  development  of  the 
life  of  the  marvelous  divine  man  by  Luke,  and  as  the 
Christian,  the  man  of  faith,  is  by  the  different  opening, 
concerning  the  eternal  Word,  by  John. 

Part  Second,  in  delineating  the  kingdom  of  power  in 
the  activity  of  its  conflict,  still  holds  the  attention  of  the 
Roman  b}^  miracles  second  in  grandeur  to  none  of  those 
which  have  preceded  ;  yet,  in  the  fourfold  withdrawal 
from  enemies,  —  from' Nazareth,  from  Herod,  from  the 
Jerusalem  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  and  from  the  local 
Pharisees  of  Dalmanutha, — it  gives  rising  prominence  to 
the  spiritual  weapons  and  influences  by  which  the  victory 
is  to  be  gained,  and  which  in  the  remainder  of  the  Gos- 
pel are  to  hold  the  chief  place. 


182  MARK,   THE   GOSPEL  FOR   THE   ROMAN. 

Part  Third,  with  its  lesson  of  conquest  by  suffering, 
records  in  its  opening  section,  after  the  confession  of  the 
Twelve,  the  transcendent  miracle  of  the  transfiguration 
with  its  divine  recognition  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  also 
the  healing  of  the  dumb  demoniac  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain ;  but  the  spiritual  element,  exalted  in  the  con- 
sequent revelation  of  the  secret  source  of  power  in  the 
kingdom  in  prayer  and  fasting,  predominates  from  this 
point  onward. 

The  presentation  of  the  public  claim  of  the  King  in 
Jerusalem  has  at  the  outset  the  restoring  of  sight  to  Bar- 
timeus  and  the  symbolic  cursing  of  the  fig-tree  ;  but  from 
that  point  forward  the  miracles  of  power,  —  the  healing 
in  the  temple,  the  healing  of  the  ear  of  Malchus,  and  all 
the  wonders  that  gathered  about  the  cross  except  the 
rending  of  the  temple  veil,  —  disappear  from  Mark's 
record,  leaving  only  the  miracles  of  foresight.  The 
scenes  of  the  last  days  are  left  to  depend  for  their  im- 
pressiveness  upon  the  power  of  the  naked  facts  of  the 
final  struggle  with  the  Jewish  authorities  and  the  death 
upon  the  cross,  —  facts  depicted  with  the  life-like  touch 
of  an  eye-witness,  and  fitted  to  draw  from  every  true 
Roman  the  exclamation  of  the  centurion  at  the  cross, 
''  Truly  this  man  was  the  Son  of  God  !  "  The  narrative 
thus  makes  manifest  that  this  Son  of  God,  who  wields  at 
pleasure  almighty  power,  is  not  to  establish  his  kingdom 
by  that,  but  by  the  ministrations  of  love,  and  the  suffer- 
ing of  death  in  the  sinner's  stead,  —  thus  conquering  by 
a  new  power  infinitely  mightier  than  that  embodied  in 
old  Rome. 

It  only  remains  at  this  point  for  the  Evangelist  to 
sketch  the  victory  over  death  and  the  doubts  of  the 
amazed  disciples,  and  the  establishment  of  the  universal 
kingdom  by  the  new  spiritual  forces  and  weapons  ;  and 
this  Mark  does  in  the  final  chapter,  the  appropriate  con- 


OMISSIONS   AND   ADDITIONS.  183 

elusion  of  this  Gospel,  in  which  the  almighty  King  is  en- 
tlironed  and  the  work  of  conquest  organized  and  pushed 
to  its  completion. 

All  this  was  just  what  was  needed  to  commend  Jesus 
as  a  Saviour  to  the  Romans.  It  was,  moreover,  a  true 
view  of  the  man  of  Nazareth,  in  whose  many-sided  char- 
acter was  found  not  only  the  Messiah,  the  ideal  Jew,  but 
also  the  universal  Conqueror  and  King,  the  ideal  Roman. 
This  Jesus,  the  inheritor  of  all  the  true  power  and  man- 
hood found  in  the  Roman  nature,  and  adding  to  this  a 
divine  power  and  manhood,  is  the  Jesus  represented  by 
Mark. 

SECTION  III. 

THE  ROMAN   ADAPTATION   IN   THE   OMISSIONS   AND   AD- 
DITIONS   OF   THE   SECOND   GOSPEL. 

The  Roman  design  of  the  second  Gospel  is  manifest  as 
well  from  that  which  the  Evangelist  omits  of  what  is 
found  in  the  other  Gospels,  as  from  that  which  he  adds 
to  what  is  found  in  them. 

I.   The  Omissions  of  the  Second  Crospel, 

It  will  he  seen  on  examination,  that  Mark  omits  what- 
ever is  distinctively  Jewish,  Greek,  or  Christian,  and 
would  therefore  be  of  little  if  any  service  in  his  work  of 
presenting  his  Gospel  to  the  Roman.  Any  one  even  tol- 
erably familiar  with  the  evangelical  records  will  remark 
how  very  extensive  these  omissions  are. 

From  Matthew.  As  compared  with  Matthew's  Gos- 
pel, which  it  most  resembles,  the  omission  throughout 
the  second  Gospel  of  the  Jewish  features  will  at  once 
appear  even  to  a  cursory  reader. 

The  long  discourses  which  make  up  so  large  a  part 
of  Matthew  are  not  found  in  Mark.  According  to  the 
testimony  of  Papias,  Mark  gives  an  account  of  "  things 


184       MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

both  said  and  done  "  ^  by  Jesus  ;  but  the  "  things  said  '* 
were  rather  incidental  or  brief  sayings  than  systematic 
and  extended  discourses.  The  sermon  on  the  Mount. 
(Matt,  v.-vii.)  ;  the  charge  to  the  Twelve  (Matt,  x.)  ; 
the  discourse  to  his  disciples  exhorting  them  to  watchful- 
ness and  activity  in  waiting  for  his  coming  to  judgment 
(Matt,  xxiv.-xxv.),  are  not  in  the  second  Gospel.  Aside 
from  the  fact  that  the  Roman  appreciated  deeds  rather 
than  discourses,  these  discourses  would  have  been  to  him 
peculiarly  devoid  of  interest,  since  they  deal  so  largely 
with  Jewish  ideas,  and  aim  so  directly  to  correct  Jewish 
errors  or  to  guide  Jewish  life. 

But  besides  these  great  omissions,  it  has  been  remarked 
that  there  is  in  this  Gospel  a  general  freedom  from  Jewish 
references,  and  from  everything  that  the  Jew  alone  could 
fully  understand  and  appreciate. 

There  is  almost  nothing  in  Mark  of  the  Messianic  ori- 
gin and  prophetic  preparation  of  Jesus,  to  which  Matthew 
devotes  his  entire  introduction  of  more  than  three  chap- 
ters (Matt.  i.  1-iv.  11)  ;  and  even  that  which  does  appear 
is  with  a  different  aim  from  Matthew's,  —  to  give  an  im- 
pressive picture  of  Christ's  opening  work.  John  the  Bap- 
tist comes  forward  in  the  wilderness  in  picturesque  garb 
as  the  herald  of  Jehovah,  the  mighty  coming  Conqueror  ; 
Jesus  appears  at  the  baptism  and  is  acknowledged  by 
God  as  his  "  beloved  Son  ;  "  and  is  then  immediately 
driven  into  the  wilderness,  where  Satan  appears  to  tempt 
him,  the  wild  beasts  to  terrify  him,  and  the  angels  to 
minister  to  him  (Mark  i.  1-13). 

Mark  omits  the  parables  of  special  Jewish  significance. 

Of  the  series  of  seven,  delivered  on  the  sea-side,  only 
two  are  retained :  that  of  the  sower  (Mark  iv.  1-25),  as 
containing  a  truth  equally  applicable  to  all  men  concern- 
ing the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  and  the  growth  of  the 
i  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  iii.  39. 


OMISSIONS  AND   ADDITIONS.  185 

kingdom  of  God ;  and  that  of  the  mustard-seed  (Mark 
iv.  30-34),  which  exhibits,  in  a  peculiarly  Roman  aspect, 
the  world-wide  growth  of  the  kingdom.  The  remaining 
five,  as  meant  especially  for  the  Jew,  are  passed  over ; 
that  of  the  tares  (Matt.  xiii.  24-35),  as  representing  the 
field  of  the  Messiah's  work  as  not  confined  to  the  Jews  as 
they  suppose,  but  as  extending  to  the  whole  world  ;  that 
of  the  leaven  (Matt.  xiii.  33),  as  exhibiting  the  influence 
of  the  Gospel  not  as  Jew-transforming  merely,  as  the 
Jews  thought,  but  as  world-transforming  ;  that  of  the  hid 
treasure  (Matt.  xiii.  44),  and  that  of  the  pearl  (xiii.  45), 
as  representing  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  not  to  be 
found  and  won  easily  by  the  king  as  something  embodied 
in  the  Jewish  institutions,  as  the  Jews  vainly  believed, 
but  rather  as  something  concealed  from  the  gaze  of  men, 
to  be  sought  diligently  by  the  divine  King  and  to  be  pur- 
chased by  him  at  the  greatest  cost  (John  i.  11)  ;  and  that 
of  the  draw-net  (Matt.  xiii.  47-50),  as  teaching  a  mixed 
condition  of  things  in  the  kingdom,  rather  than  the  ex- 
clusiveness  of  their  own  national  election,  of  which  the 
Jews  boasted. 

The  reader  of  Mark's  Gospel  will  also  note  the  absence 
of  the  numerous  parables  condemnatory  of  the  Jews, 
found  in  the  latter  half  of  Matthew's  Gospel.  The  Jew- 
ish lessons  of  these  parables  would  have  been  lost  upon 
the  Romans.  There  is  doubtless  the  further  reason  for 
their  omission,  that,  as  the  parabolic  form  of  instruction 
was  adopted  by  our  Lord  for  the  purpose  of  partially 
hiding  the  "truth  from  the  blinded  Jews  (Matt.  xiii.  10- 
16),  it  could  scarcely  have  been  at  all  intelligible  to 
Romans,  who  were  entirely  unaccustomed  to  deal  with 
highly  figurative  forms  of  speech. 

The  same  thing  is  illustrated  by  Mark's  treatment  of 
tlie  first  of  the  three  series  of  miracles,  given  by  Matthew 
to  confirm  the  authority  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  —  the 


186  MARK,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

series  designed  to  show  the  relation  of  Jesus  to  the  Jewish 
ceremonial  law  (Matt.  viii.  1-17  ) .  The  first  miracle,  the 
healing  of  the  leper,  is  recorded  by  Mark  (i.  40-45)  in 
bringing  out  the  wonderful  power  and  fame  of  Jesus,  the 
Roman  aspect  of  his  work.  The  second,  the  healing  of 
the  centurion's  servant,  is  omitted,  as  it  chiefly  presents 
the  contrast  of  Gentile  faith  with  Jewish  unbelief.  The 
third,  the  healing  of  Peter's  wife's  mother,  with  the 
added  works  of  power,  is  recorded  by  Mark  (i.  29—34), 
as  exhibiting  the  excitement  in  the  city  and  the  marvel- 
ous power  of  Jesus  over  diseases,  demons,  and  men  ;  but 
the  reference  which  Matthew  (viii.  16,  17)  makes  to 
prophecy  is  omitted. 

A  notable  exception  to  the  general  freedom  of  Mark 
from  Jewish  references  appears,  however,  in  the  record 
of  the  conflicts  of  Jesus,  with  the  disciples  of  John  and 
the  Pharisees,  at  the  feast  of  Levi,  about  fasting  (Matt, 
ix.  10-17  ;  Mark  ii.  15-22)  ;  and  with  the  Pharisees 
about  the  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  (Matt.  xii.  1-14 ; 
Mark  ii.  23-iii.  6).  It  has  been  already  seen,  in  the  por- 
traiture of  the  Roman  character,  that  the  genuine  Ro- 
man-born man  was,  on  his  religious  side,  the  Pharisee  of 
the  empire,  considering  himself  —  as  did  the  Pharisee  of 
J  udaea  —  the  only  favored  child  of  heaven.  It  was  true 
of  his  religion,  that  it  was  a  mere  empty  form  and  tradi- 
tion, nay,  more,  an  acknowledged  hyprocrisy,  for  the 
priests  of  the  Pantheon  could  not  look  each  other  in  the 
face  without  laughing  outright  at  the  farce  they  were 
enacting.  The  Roman  needed,  therefore,  to  be  taught,  by 
Christ's  treatment  of  Jewish  caste,  the  true  doctrine  of 
equality  on  the  basis  of  manhood,  in  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and,  by  his  treatment  of  Jewish  formality  and  hypocrisy, 
the  true  doctrine  of  the  spirituality  and  sincerity  of  the 
religion  of  the  kingdom.  Yet  it  must  be  observed  that 
even  these  incidents  are  stripped  of  everything  that  a 


OMISSIONS   AND  ADDITIONS.  187 

Jew  only  could  understand,  and  the  passage  in  which 
they  occur  is  completed  by  Christ's  demonstration,  in  the 
healing  of  the  withered  hand,  of  his  Lordship  over  the 
Sabbath. 

From  Luke.  As  compared  with  the  third  Gospel,  the 
omission  of  the  merely  Greek  features  is  equally  appar- 
ent. 

There  is  nothing  in  Mark  of  the  marvelous  coming 
down  of  heaven  to  earth,  and  of  that  human  develop- 
ment of  Jesus  as  the  divine  and  perfect  man,  to  which 
the  introduction  of  Luke  is  devoted  (Luke  i.  1-iv.  13). 
These  matters,  which  will  be  seen  to  be  of  such  absorb- 
ing interest  and  such  eminent  appropriateness  for  the 
Greek,  were  not  in  place  for  the  man  of  deeds. 

The  part  of  this  material  which  Mark  uses  has  refer- 
ence to  the  baptism  of  John  and  the  temptation,  and 
is  all  comprised  in  ten  verses.  In  the  record  which 
Matthew  makes  of  the  Baptist's  mission,  the  fulfillment 
of  prophecy  is  the  prominent  feature  ;  in  that  of  John, 
the  testimony  of  the  Baptist  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  the 
light  and  life  of  men ;  in  that  of  Luke,  the  salvation  of 
God  for  all  flesh  is  the  new  thought  brought  out ;  in  that 
of  Mark,  the  mighty  herald  before  Jehovah,  the  almighty 
conqueror.  Equally  characteristic  is  the  omission  by 
Mark  of  the  human  experience  of  Jesus  in  the  tempta- 
tion, as  given  by  Luke  and  Matthew,  while  he  only  aims 
to  bring  out  for  the  Roman  reader,  in  the  most  graphic 
manner,  the  situation  of  the  Saviour  in  the  wilderness. 

Indeed,  the  absence  of  those  universal  and  human  feat- 
ures, which  will  be  shown  to  be  so  essential  to  the  third 
Gospel,  cannot  fail  to  be  noted  throughout  the  second. 

The  successive  stages  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  upon  which 
Luke  dwells,  are  not  even  mentioned  by  Mark.  Jesus 
appears  at  once  with  his  powers  full-summed  and  at  their 
highest,  and  engages  without  delay  in  his  work  as  the 


188       MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

almighty  Victor.  For  the  Roman  there  is  but  one  stage 
in  his  career. 

The  entire  ministry  in  Peraea,  constituting  ahnost  one 
half  of  Luke's  Gospel,  and  presenting  the  divine  mercy 
in  its  most  tender  aspects  to  universal  humanity,  has  no 
place  in  Mark.  That  which  was  fitted  to  move  and 
mould  the  gentle  Greek,  with  his  thoughtful  and  beauti- 
ful soul,  was  not  suited  to  influence  the  stern  and  martial 
Roman,  who  had  in  his  nature  as  little  as  possible  of 
beauty  and  sentiment.  There  are  therefore  wanting  in 
the  second  Gospel  the  great  parables  of  Luke,  the  favo- 
rites of  all  ages  :  the  two  debtors,  the  good  Samaritan, 
the  friend  at  midnight,  the  rich  fool,  the  barren  fig-tree, 
the  great  supper,  the  lost  sheep,  the  lost  piece  of  money, 
the  prodigal  son,  the  unjust  steward,  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus,  the  unprofitable  servants,  the  unjust  judge,  the 
Pharisee  and  the  publican,  and  the  pounds  ;  besides  the 
other  rich  instructions  addressed  to  the  heathen  people 
in  Persea,  or  the  country  across  the  Jordan  (Luke  ix.- 
xix.),  and  suited  to  the  man  of  universal  sympathies. 

From  John.  As  compared  with  the  fourth  Gospel, 
the  omission  of  the  distinctively  Christian  features  is 
apparent  everywhere  in  the  second. 

Strictly  speaking,  Mark  gives  nothing  of  the  great 
Christian  discourses  that  make  up  the  Gospel  according 
to  John.  In  a  missionary  Gospel  aiming  at  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Roman,  they  would  have  utterly  failed  to  be 
appreciated. 

These  two  Gospels  have  little  in  common  save  a  few 
striking  facts.  These  appear  in  Mark  as  facts  in  the 
wonder-working  power  of  the  conqueror,  or  as  facts  cen- 
tring in  the  cross  and  essential  to  redemption.  The 
former  kind  comprises  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand 
(Mark  vi.  32-44 ;  John  vi.  1-14),  and  the  walking  of 
Jesus  on  the  water  (Mark  vi.  45-56  ;  John  vi.  15-21). 


OMISSIONS   AND   ADDITIONS.  189 

The  latter  kind  embraces  many  of  the  incidents  of  the 
hist  Passover  week,  and  some  of  those  after  the  resur- 
rection. It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  the  great  Chris- 
tian lessons,  which  John  connects  with  or  draws  from 
these  facts,  do  not  find  place  in  Mark's  Gospel. 

II.   The  Additions  of  the  Second  Gospel. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Mark  gives  equally  conclusive 
evidence  of  its  Roman  aim  in  what  it  adds  to  the  records 
of  the  other  Gospels. 

A  mechanical  criticism  has  shown  that,  if  the  Gospel 
of  Mark  is  regarded  as  made  up  of  one  100  parts,  7  of 
these  are  peculiar  to  itself,  and  93  common  to  it  with  one 
or  more  of  the  other  Gospels.  Substantially  the  same 
fact  appears  in  the  statement  that  there  are  but  twenty- 
three  or  twenty-four  verses  in  Mark  which  are  not  found 
also  in  Matthew  or  Luke. 

The  historical  origin  of  the  Gospels,  as  already  exhib- 
ited, opens  the  way  to  an  explanation  of  the  resemblances 
as  well  as  the  differences  of  the  first  three  Gospels.  Both 
Matthew  and  Peter  were  Apostles  and  familiar  with  the 
facts  of  the  career  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Luke  and 
Paul  doubtless  learned  the  facts  and  discourses  either 
directly  or  indirectly  from  the  Apostles,  except  so  far  as 
Paul  was  taught  by  Christ  himself  (Gal.  i.  12). 

The  verbal  coincidences  between  the  first  three  Gos- 
pels, which  have  led  to  the  many  ingenious  hypotheses 
regarding  their  common  origin,  can  better  be  accounted  for 
without  these  elaborate  imaginings.  Mr.  Westcott  has 
observed  that  "  they  occur  most  commonly  in  the  recital 
of  the  words  of  our  Lord  or  of  others,  and  are  compara- 
tively rare  in  the  simple  narrative.  Thus,  of  the  verbal 
coincidences  in  St.  Matthew  about  seven  eighths,  of  those 
in  St.  Mark  about  four  fifths,  and  of  those  in  St.  Luke, 
about  nineteen  twentieths,  occur  in    the  records  of  the 


190       MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

words  of  others."  ^  The  recitative  portions  —  discourses, 
parables,  etc.  —  came  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  himself, 
were  fixed  in  the  minds  of  the  Apostles,  were  reproduced 
in  their  preaching  and  embodied  in  the  Gospels,  which 
therefore  could  not  fail  to  be  alike  in  these  respects.  The 
narrative  portions  were  given  their  shape  in  each  case  by 
the  individual  Apostle  or  Evangelist,  and  therefore  could 
not  but  be  different.  There  is,  therefore,  no  call  for  any- 
elaborate  hypothesis. 

The  extraordinary  resemblance  of  Mark's  Gospel  to 
that  of  Matthew  has  led  to  three  hypotheses  of  their 
connection :  a  first,  that  Matthew  is  an  enlargement 
of  Mark ;  a  second,  that  Mark  is  an  abridgment  of 
Matthew  ;  a  third,  that  both  had  a  common  basis  in  an 
oral  Gospel  which  existed  in  the  Church  at  the  time  of 
their  origin  and  from  which  they  alike  drew  their  mate- 
rial. 

But  there  is  hardly  a  necessity  for  arbitrary  conjecture 
in  accounting  for  this  most  extraordinary  resemblance, 
since  history  with  the  aid  of  common  sense  furnishes  a 
far  better  explanation  of  the  facts.  Matthew  and  Peter 
were  both  personally  cognizant  of  the  great  facts  which 
they  recorded,  and  they  both  first  entered  upon  the  work 
of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  Jews  in  Judaea.  There 
is  doubtless  so  much  of  truth  in  the  theory  of  a  common 
oral  Gospel.  The  idea  of  power  had  its  attractions,  as 
has  been  seen,  for  both  the  Jew  and  the  Roman.  When 
Peter  went  abroad  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  over  the  world, 
it  was  therefore  natural  that  he  should  retain  the  exhibi- 
tions of  the  miraculous  power  of  Jesus  with  which  the 
preaching  in  Judaea  had  made  him  so  familiar.  It  was 
equally  natural  and  necessary  that,  in  seeking  to  reach 
and  influence  hearers  moulded  by  the  Roman  civilization, 
he  should  drop  the  references  to  prophecy  which  were  un- 

1  Westcott,  Introduction,  p.  203. 


OMISSIONS   AND   ADDITIONS.  191 

intelligible  to  the  Romans,  and  give  to  everything  that 
increased  vividness  and  picturesque  effect  without  which 
their  attention  could  not  be  won  and  retained. 

From  the  small  additions  and  large  subtractions  of  the 
second  Gospel,  the  mechanical  critics  have  inferred  the 
want  of  any  great  special  significance  of  this  Gospel.  In 
their  view  it  is  the  least  important  of  all,  in  fact,  of  al- 
most no  value  to  those  who  have  Matthew's  Gospel.  The 
inference  warranted  is,  rather,  that  the  criticism  which 
sees  so  little  difference  and  is  content  with  looking  only 
at  outward  dissimilarity  is  itself  insignificant  and  worth- 
less. 

A  true  and  worth}^  criticism  cannot  fail  to  demonstrate 
that  the  number  of  verses  in  which  Mark's  Gospel  out- 
wardly differs  from  the  others  is  no  proper  measure  of 
the  real  and  essential  difference.  The  score  of  verses, 
more  or  less,  which  he  adds  to  the  records  of  the  other 
Evangelists,  forms  the  least  of  all  his  contributions  to 
the  Gospel  treasure.  The  greater  additions  will  appear 
under  the  incidental  changes  and  variations  of  this  Gos- 
pel. 

But  even  the  slighter  and  less  important  direct  addi- 
tions may  be  shown  to  have  aided  materially  in  adapting 
the  second  Gospel  to  Roman  readers. 

The  portions  usually  reckoned  additions  to  this  Gospel 
are  the  following  :  the  parable  of  the  seed-corn  (Mark 
iv.  26-34)  ;  the  healing  of  the  blind  man  of  Bethsaida 
(viii.  22-26)  ;  the  healing  of  the  deaf  man  of  Decapolis 
(vii.  31-37)  ;  and  the  form  of  the  last  commission  (xvi. 
15-18). 

The  longest  of  all  these  is  the  parable  of  the  seed-corn, 
occupying  nine  verses.  Mark  has  altogether  only  four 
parables,  and  this  is  the  only  one  peculiar  to  his  Gospel. 
One  of  the  four,  that  of  the  wicked  husbandmen  (xii.  1- 
12),  is  introduced   by  Mark,  as  also   by  Matthew  and 


192  MARK,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  ROMAN. 

Luke,  in  its  proper  place  in  connection  with  tlie  series 
of  conflicts  in  which  Jesus  engaged  with  the  leading 
classes.  The  remaining  three  constitute  Mark's  group 
of  parables. 

The  three  can  best  be  understood  together.  They 
have  nothing  to  do  with  portraying  the  world-wide 
mercy  to  which  Luke's  parables,  occurring  later  in  his 
Gospel,  are  devoted  ;  nor  with  the  spiritual  truth  and 
the  blessed  relations  of  Christ  to  his  people,  which  those 
of  John  exhibit ;  nor  with  the  inward,  subjective  influ- 
ences, to  the  setting  forth  of  which  a  part  of  those  in 
Matthew's  first  great  group  are  devoted  ;  but  are  all  em- 
plo^^ed  in  unfolding  the  growth  of  the  kingdom  as  an 
outtvard,  objective  thing.  The  first  (the  sower)  contra- 
dicts the  false  Roman  idea,  by  putting  the  invisible, 
spiritual  power  of  truth  in  the  place  of  the  visible,  mate- 
rial power  of  the  Caesars  ;  the  second  (the  seed-corn) 
presents  a  development  as  independent  of  human  will 
and  as  inevitable  as  that  of  Rome  herself  according  to  the 
most  Roman  conception  ;  the  third  (the  mustard-seed) 
completes  the  sketch  of  the  development  of  the  kingdom, 
by  depicting  its  rapid  growth  into  that  universality  which 
Rome,  alone  of  all  the  worldly  empires,  had  even  imper- 
fectly realized. 

The  next  addition,  the  healing  of  the  deaf  and  dumb 
man  of  Decapolis  (vii.  31-37),  comprises  seven  verses. 
There  is  another,  the  healing  of  the  blind  man  of  Beth- 
saida  (viii.  22-26),  which  is  not  unlike  it.  The  two  are 
among  the  most  striking  of  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  and, 
through  the  symbolical  acts  connected  with  them  most 
eminently  fitted  to  make  a  deep  impression  on  the  man 
of  deeds.  In  the  former  miracle,  the  great  Healer  put 
his  finger  into  the  ears  of  the  man,  and  spitting  touched 
his  tougue  with  the  spittle,  by  these  signs  to  awaken  the 
faith  of  the  man  and  arouse  his  expectation  of  blessing. 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  193 

In  the  latter  miracle,  Jesus  performed  a  progressive  cure, 
—  first  spitting  upon  the  blind  man's  eyes  and  putting 
his  hands  upon  him,  thereby  bringing  him  to  "  see  men 
as  trees  walking  ;  "  and  afterward  putting  his  hands 
again  upon  his  eyes,  and  making  him  to  "  see  every  man 
clearly."  Both  miracles  furnish  striking  symbols  of  the 
dealings  of  divine  grace  with  sinful  man ;  both  picture 
Christ's  saving  power  for  the  easy  comprehension  of  the 
man  of  action. 

The  last  of  these  added  passages  in  the  second  Gospel, 
the  great  commission,  in  a  form  quite  peculiar  (xvi.  15- 
20),  presents  not  only  the  warrant  of  the  followers  of 
Christ  for  the  conquest  of  the  whole  world,  —  the  orders 
of  the  army  of  the  great  conqueror  for  its  marching  and 
action,  —  but  also  the  promise  of  miraculous,  divine  coop- 
eration, through  the  exaltation  of  the  risen  and  ascended 
Son  of  God  with  his  Father  on  the  throne  of  the  universe. 
It  closes  with  the  record  of  the  actual  pushing  out  into 
all  the  world,  by  the  followers  of  our  Lord,  of  the  work 
of  universal  conquest  (verse  20).  It  is  the  true  Gospel 
commission  for  the  man  of  action  and  of  universal  empire, 
the  Roman. 

Both  the  omissions  and  additions  of  the  Evangelist 
were  eminently  fitted  to  commend  Jesus  to  the  Roman 
world  of  that  age. 

SECTION  IV. 

THE  ROMAN  ADAPTATION  IN  THE  INCIDENTAL  VARIA- 
TIONS  OF  THE   SECOND   GOSPEL. 

The  adaptation  of  Mark's  Gospel  to  the  Roman  needs 
appears  even  more  clearly  in  the  incidental  variations 
and  peculiarities  throughout  the  entire  production.  In 
these  features,  as  already  intimated,  are  to  be  found 
Mark's  most  important  contributions  to  the  Gospel  treas- 

13 


194  MARK,    THE    GOSPEL   FOR   THE   ROMAN. 

ure.  He  has  added  something  of  value  to  ahiiost  every 
line  which  he  has  given  in  common  with  the  other  Evan- 
gelists. By  variations  of  incident,  by  touching,  shaping, 
or  coloring,  and  by  new  and  fresh  grouping  of  the  facts, 
he  has  produced  out  of  apparently  old  material  an  origi- 
nal Gospel,  into  the  entire  tone  and  movement  of  which 
he  has  infused,  by  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  a  living 
energy  born  of  Jesus,  the  divine  and  almighty  worker 
and  conqueror. 

I.  Incidental   Variations. 

It  has  often  been  noticed  that  Mark's  is  the  Gospel  of 
minute  and  vivid  details. 

Through  Peter,  whose  amanuensis  or  interpreter  he  is, 
in  a  sense,  to  be  regarded,  the  Evangelist  takes  the  posi- 
tion of  an  eye-witness  and  ear-witness,  and  renders  every- 
thing life-like  by  the  thousand  varied  and  delicate  touches 
fitted  to  make  past  events  become  present  realities  again. 
In  recording  ordinary  occurrences,  while  he  omits  much 
of  the  didactic  matter  preserved  by  Matthew  and  Luke, 
he  adds  some  circumstance  of  condition  or  of  place.  In 
picturing  the  extraordinary  events,  he  alone  of  the  Evan- 
gelists dwells  upon  the  looks  and  gestures  and,  in  general, 
upon  the  outward  expressions  of  feeling  on  the  part  of 
Jesus.  In  describing  the  miracles,  he  dwells  upon  the 
instrumental  or  accompanying  acts.  By  these  processes 
which  the  careless  reader  may  pass  over  almost  without 
observing  them,  the  plain  narratives  of  the  other  Evan- 
gelists are  transformed  by  Mark  into  living  pictures.  In 
truth,  he  must  be  acknowledged  as  being,  among  the 
Gospel  authors,  the  "  exclusive  master  of  the  pictorial 
and  scenic  in  describing  what  took  place." 

Narrative  Changes.  This  peculiarity  of  the  second 
Gospel  may  be  illustrated  by  any  of  the  narratives  given 
by  it  in  common  with  some  other  Gospel. 


INCIDENTAL   VAKIATIONS.  195 

The  meeting  of  Jesus  with  the  rich  young  man  and 
what  occurred  in  immediate  connection  with  it  are  re- 
corded by  the  first  three  Evangelists  (Matt.  xix.  16-30  ; 
Mark  x.  17-31  ;  Luke  xviii.  18-80).  Only  Mark  brings 
out  the  earnestness  of  the  young  man  by  mentioning  that 
he  came  running  and  kneeled  to  Jesus  when  he  asked 
him  the  momentous  question  concerning  eternal  life. 
The  touching  incident,  that  Jesus,  before  pronouncing 
the  decisive  words  given  by  the  three  Evangelists,  One 
thing  thou  lacJcest,  looked  upon  him  and  loved  him,  with- 
out in  any  wise  softening  the  severity  of  his  declaration 
on  account  of  this  natural  amiability,  is  recorded  only  by 
Mark.  He  alone  adds,  immediately  afterwards,  to  the 
follow  me,  which  he  has  in  common  with  Matthew  and 
Luke,  the  important  words,  taking  up  the  cross.  As 
only  Mark  relates  that  Jesus  looked  round  about,  when 
he  uttered  those  terrible  words  :  How  hardly  shall  they 
that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  !  —  so  he 
alone  follows  this  up  with  an  account  of  the  astonishment 
of  the  disciples,  and  the  Master's  repeated  yet  explana- 
tory saying  :  And  the  disciples  were  astonished  at  his 
words.  But  Jesus  answereth  again,  and  saith  unto  them. 
Children,  how  hard  is  it  for  them  that  trust  in  riches  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  I  And  when  our  Lord  adds 
that  it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  the  still  more  astonished  disciples  say  among  them- 
selves, Who  then  can  he  saved  ?  it  is  Mark  who  records, 
in  the  most  forcible  yet  simple  manner,  that  saying  so  full 
of  comfort  to  the  heart  truly  in  search  of  salvation,  in  re- 
peating the  expression  of  God's  almighty  power  in  man's 
salvation, /or  with  God  all  things  are  possible.  When, 
shortly  afterwards,  Jesus  promises  to  the  disciples,  that 
whatever  any  one  shall  have  forsaken  on  earth  for  his 
sake  he  shall  have  restored  to  him  an  hundred-fold,  and 


196       MAKK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

that  lie  shall  receive  eternal  life  in  the  world  to  come, 
Mark  adds  what  might  have  been  but  too  easily  forgot- 
ten, that  this  recompense,  in  so  far  as  this  life  is  con- 
cerned, shall  be  coupled  with  persecutions. 

The  account  of  the  poor  widow's  mite  is  found  in  Mark 
(xii.  41-44)  and  Luke  (xxi.  1-4).  In  the  four  verses  of 
his  Gospel  Mark  adds  to  the  parallel  account  of  Luke  : 
that  Jesus  sat  over  against  the  treasury ;  that  he  saw 
the  people  cast  in  their  gifts  ;  that  many  that  were  rich 
cast  in  much ;  that  the  widow's  two  mites  make  a  far- 
thing (a  quadrant,  a  well-known  Roman  coin) ;  that  he 
called  unto  him  his  disciples  and  told  them  that  the 
poor  widow  had  cast  more  in  than  all  they  which  have 
cast  into  the  treasury.  Add  to  this  the  constant  rep- 
etition of  the  words,  cast  in,  and  there  is  furnished 
the  material  which  makes  all  the  difference  between  the 
sober  statement  of  Luke,  designed  to  be  read  by  the 
thoughtful  Greek,  and  the  vivid  picture  of  Mark,  de- 
siofned  to  make  the  active  Roman  see  the  event  itself. 

These  examples  might  be  extended  to  cover  all  the 
events  which  Mark  records  in  common  with  one  or  more 
of  the  other  Evangelists,  and  would  exhibit  throughout 
the  same  characteristic  features  that  so  adapted  this  Gos- 
pel to  the  man  of  action. 

Slighter  Additions.  The  same  distinguishing  feature 
of  the  second  Gospel  may  be  illustrated  by  a  large  class 
of  incidental  additions  made  by  Mark  in  connection  with 
materials  common  to  two  or  more  of  the  Evangelists. 

He  usually  gives  the  names  and  surnames,  and  men- 
tions the  relations,  of  the  persons  whom  the  other  Evan- 
gelists mention  more  generally.  The  blind  man  restored 
near  Jericho  is  Bartimeus,  the  son  of  Timeus  (x.  46). 
The  high-priest  from  whom  David  received  the  shew-bread 
as  food  is  Abiathar  (ii.  26).  The  Jewish  name  of  the 
publican  Matthew  is  Levi,  and  he  is  the  son  of  Alpheus 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  197 

(ii.  14).  The  sons  of  Zebedee  are  surnamed  by  Jesus 
Boanerges,  which. is  the  sons  of  thunder  (iii.  17).  Simon 
of  Cyrene  was  the  father  of  Alexander  and  Rufus  (xv. 
21),  one  of  whom  seems  to  have  been  a  well-known  per- 
son in  the  circle  of  Roman  Christians  (Rom.  xvi.  13). 

He  takes  peculiar  pleasure  in  giving  the  identical  Ara- 
msean  words  used  by  Jesus.  In  the  accounts  of  the  young 
woman's  restoration  to  life,  Matthew  mentions  the  bare 
fact,  Luke  gives  our  Lord's  words  in  Greek,  but  Mark 
tells  us  (v.  41)  that  our  Lord  said  to  her :  "  Talitha, 
Cumi,  which  is  being  interpreted,  Damsel,  I  say  unto 
thee,  arise."  So  in  the  account  of  the  healing  of  the  deaf 
and  dumb  man  in  the  region  of  Decapolis  (vii.  34),  we 
have  the  word  of  Jesus  :  "  Uphphatha,'^  and  have  it  in- 
terpreted for  the  Gentile  reader,  —  "  that  is  to  say,  Be 
opened."  In  Gethsemane  we  have  the  Syriac  "  Abba  " 
(xiv.  36)  ;  and,  in  answer  to  the  Jerusalem  Scribes  and 
Pharisees,  the  Hebrew  "  Corban^'"  caught  from  the  lips 
of  Jesus  (vii.  11.)  The  cry  of  agony  on  the  cross  is  given 
by  Mark  in  the  precise  Aramsean  words  in  which  it  was 
doubtless  uttered :  "  Eloi  !  JEloi  !  lama  sabachthani  ^  " 
By  Matthew  it  is  given  in  the  original  Hebrew  —  then 
already  a  dead  language —  ^'Mi  I  Mi  !  "  etc. 

But  this  point  is  perhaps  best  illustrated  by  some  of 
those  characteristic  details  by  which  Mark  casts  a  flood 
of  light  upon  the  daily  life  of  our  Lord. 

The  account  of  the  storm  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee  is  found 
in  Matthew  (viii.),  Mark  (iv.),  and  Luke  (viii.).  Mark 
alone  tells  us,  that  "  they  took  him  even  as  he  was  in  the 
ship"  (iv.  36),  —  that  is,  exhausted  by  his  labors  and 
without  any  preparation  for  the  comfort  of  the  voyage. 
All  three  of  the  Evangelists  tell  us  that  while  the  terri- 
ble mountain  storm  was  sweeping  down  over  the  waters, 
Jesus  lay  sleeping  in  the  little  ship.  But  Mark  adds  a 
circumstance  equally  picturesque  and  significant :  "  And 


198       MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN/' 

he  was  in  the  hinder  part  of  the  ship  asleep  upon  the 
hench^''  —  for  so,  as  is  now  generally  admitted,  must  the 
hist  word  be  translated.  He  lay  sleeping  upon  the  bench 
covered  with  leather,  on  which  the  rowers  were  accustomed 
to  sit,  and  not  upon  a  pillow,  *'  No  convenience  brought 
on  board  for  that  purpose,  but  only  what  the  place  itself 
offered,  served  for  some  moments  as  a  couch  to  him  who 
otherwise,  on  his  own  earth,  had  not  where  to  lay  his 
head." 

Da  Costa,  who  has  given  a  detailed  account  of  the 
characteristic  differences  of  the  Gospels,  brings  out  an- 
other very  striking  feature  in  connection  with  Nazareth, 
the  town  in  which  Jesus  was  brought  up:  All  the  first 
three  Gospels  show  that  his  doctrines  and  miracles  had 
given  rise  to  great  astonishment  and  offense  among  the 
Nazarenes.  Luke  (iv.)  tells  us  that  they  became  so  en- 
raged that  they  thrust  him  out  of  the  city  and  attempted 
to  cast  him  headlong  from  the  precipice  on  which  the 
town  was  built.  Matthew  (xiii.  54,  55)  records  the  ques- 
tions of  amazement,  skepticism,  and  contempt :  "  Whence 
hath  this  man  this  wisdom  and  these  mighty  works  ?  Is 
not  this  the  carpenter's  son  ?  Is  not  his  mother's  name 
Mary?  And  his  brethren,  James, and  Joses,  and  Simon, 
and  Judas  ?  and  his  sisters,  are  they  not  all  with  us  ?  " 
But  Mark  (vi.  3)  writes,  "  Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  the 
son  of  Mary  ?  This  difference  between  the  Gospels,  ap- 
parently so  unimportant,  clearly  reveals  to  us  two  striking 
circumstances  in  the  private  life  of  Jesus  :  firsts  that  he 
himself,  along  with  his  father,  and  apparently  until  his 
baptism  in  Jordan,  followed  at  Nazareth  the  trade  of  a 
carpenter  ;  seco7idly^  that  in  those  days  Joseph,  the  hus- 
band of  Mary,  must  have  long  been  dead.  And  thus  it 
is  that  the  Lord  from  heaven,  he  by  whom  the  heaven 
and  the  earth  were  created,  is  found  in  his  human  nature 
exercising  a  trade  on  this  earth,  and  by  that  trade,  that 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  199 

labor  of  his  own  hands,  providing,  as  a  son  and  support, 
for  Joseph's  widow,  the  daughter  of  David,  whose  eldest 
son  he  was  according  to  the  flesh." 

Word  Changes.  The  word  changes,  occurring  in 
every  paragraph  of  the  second  Gospel,  bear  the  same 
characteristic  mark  of  adaptation  to  the  man  of  deeds. 
By  means  of  these  the  expressions  of  the  other  Evangel- 
ists are  strengthened  and  intensified  and  their  bald  state- 
ments transformed  into  living  realities. 

Matthew  and  Luke  tell  us  that  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus 
the  heavens  were  ofeyied  unto  him  ;  Mark  tells  us  that 
Jesus  saw  the  heavens  rent  open  (i.  10).  Matthew  and 
Luke  tell  us  that  after  the  baptism  Jesus  was  led  up^  or 
led^  into  the  wilderness  for  the  temptation;  Mark  says 
that  the  Spirit  driveth  him  (i.  12).  In  describing  the 
feeling  awakened  by  the  healing  of  the  paralytic,  Mat- 
thew (ix.  8)  says  they  marveled  ;  but  Mark  (ii.  12)  says 
they  were  all  amazed  (literally,  beside  themselves). 
In  the  description  of  the  storm  at  sea,  Matthew  (viii.  24) 
says  the  ship  was  covered  with  the  waves  ;  Mark  (iv.  37), 
the  ship  was  full.  Matthew  (xxvi.  37)  says  that  in 
Getlisemane  our  Lord  began  to  he  sorrowful;  Mark  (xiv. 
33)  uses  a  stronger  expression  :  to  be  sore  amazed. 

Mark  likewise  makes  use  of  that  repetition  of  words 
which  is  a  form  of  figurative  energy  so  common  in  the 
Latin  tongue.  This  may  be  illustrated  by  such  expres- 
sions as  that  used  concerning  the  disciples,  after  the  storm 
on  the  sea  (iv.  41),  *'  and  they  feared  exceedingly  "  (lit- 
erally, they  feared  with  a  great  fear')  ;  that  used  concern- 
ing the  people  when  the  daughter  of  the  ruler  was  re- 
stored to  life  (v.  42),  "  and  they  were  astonished  with  a 
great  astonishment ; "  and  that  used  in  speaking  of  the 
sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  (iii.  28),  "  blasphemies  where- 
with soever  they  shall  blaspheme."  This  usage  may  be 
even  better  illustrated  by  the  emphatic  repetition  of  the 


200       MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

exact  words  and  phrases.  In  this  way  the  Evangelist 
uses  the  words  cast  in  seven  times,  in  giving  the  account 
of  the  widow's  mites  (xii.  41-44).  In  like  manner  he 
repeats  the  Gospel  and  the  kingdom  of  Grod  (i.  14,  15)  ; 
the  words  eat  and  publicans  and  sinners  (ii.  16,  19)  ; 
and  the  word  sea  (iv.  1). 

These  are  only  specimens  of  the  variations  that  are  to 
be  found  throughout  the  entire  Gospel.  The  possessor 
of  an  English  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  —  still  better,  of 
a  Greek  Harmony  —  can  readily  examine  them  in  detail 
for  himself.  They  will  everywhere  be  found  to  bear  the 
Roman  stamp. 

II.    Other  Peculiarities, 

The  survey  taken  of  the  second  Gosj)el  brings  to  light 
other  and  incidental  variations,  not  to  be  classed  with 
those  already  referred  to,  but  which  can  only  be  explained 
by  the  Roman  aim  of  the  Evangelist. 

Roman  Assumptions.  As  already  indicated,  Mark 
has  furnished  the  Gospel  of  action,  and  especially  of  the 
divine  activity  of  Jesus.  This  assumes  the  point  of  view 
of  the  Roman,  the  man  of  action. 

Although  so  much  the  shortest  of  the  Gospels,  it  has 
nearly  as  many  miracles  as  Matthew.  It  deals  but  little 
with  logic  save  the  logic  of  facts.  Mr.  Westcott  has 
called  it  "  a  series  of  perfect  pictures  ;  "  and  again,  "  the 
living  portraiture  of  Christ  in  the  clearness  of  his  present 
energy."  The  teaching  of  mighty  fact  everywhere  out- 
runs that  of  verbal  statement. 

Its  very  brevity,  resulting  from  these  characteristics, 
Avould,  as  Canon  Wordsworth  has  suggested,  ''  commend 
it  to  the  acceptance  of  a  great  body  of  the  Roman  people, 
especially  of  the  middle  classes,  engaged  in  practical  busi- 
ness, legal  affairs,  commercial  enterprises,  and  military 
campaigns,  and    migrating   in   frequent   journeys   from 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  201 

place  to  place.  Such  an  Evangelical  manual  as  this 
would  be  particularly  appropriate  and  serviceable  to 
them."  1 

It  is  true  that  Mark  nowhere  represents  Jesus  as 
being  addressed  as  Lord  —  as  the  other  Evangelists  so 
often  do  —  but  the  authority  of  Lord  and  God  is  exhibited 
in  all  his  career  as  it  is  not  by  any  other  Evangelist.  It 
is  Mark  that  has  given  us  the  God  speaking  out  most 
clearly  through  the  man  in  all  the  relations  of  life.  Tan- 
gible forms,  material  symbols,  were  a  necessity  in  a  Gos- 
pel for  the  matter-of-fact  Roman.  To  him  an  abstract 
God  was  no  God  at  all.  While  Luke,  writing  for  the 
so-human  Greek,  dwells  upon  the  perfect  humanity  of 
Jesus  as  it  appears  exalted  into  union  with  the  Divinity  ; 
Mark,  for  the  Roman,  strives  to  make  visible  through  the 
manhood  of  Jesus,  the  invisible  and  Almighty  God. 

The  fact  has  been  often  signalized,  that  the  second 
Gospel  gives  with  special  fullness  many  of  the  events  in 
the  experience  of  Peter. 

There  are  throughout  abundant  indications  of  the  in- 
timate connection  of  Peter  with  its  authorship.  It  be- 
gins with  Peter's  first  acquaintance  with  Jesus,  at  the 
preaching  of  the  Baptist.  Simon  Peter  is  incidentally 
seen  to  be  a  central  figure  in  it,  as  may  be  shown  by  com- 
paring statements  of  Mark  with  those  of  the  other  Evan- 
gelists. Where  Luke  (iv.  42),  writes  :  "  And  when  it 
was  day,  he  departed,  and  went  into  a  desert  place  ;  and 
the  people  sought  him,  and  came  unto  him,  and  stayed 
him,  that  he  should  not  depart  from  them  ;  "  Mark  (i. 
35,  36)  says  :  "  And  in  the  morning,  rising  up  a  great 
while  before  day,  he  went  out,  and  departed  into  a  soli- 
tary place,  and  there  prayed.  And  Simon^  and  they  that 
were  with  hhn^  followed  (Greek,  hunted^  after  him."  In 
the   narrative   of  the  fig-tree  that  was  cursed,  Matthew 

1  Introduction  to  St.  Mark's  Gospel. 


202  MARK,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  ROMAN. 

(xxi.  20)  represents  the  disciples  as  exclaiming,  "  How 
soon  is  the  fig-tree  withered  away !  "  but  Mark  (xi.  21) 
represents  Peter  as  first  calling  to  remembrance  the  curse 
and  making  the  exclamation.  Matthew  (xxiv.  3)  writes 
that  the  disciples  asked  our  Lord  about  the  time  when 
the  temple  should  be  destroyed  ;  Luke  (xxi.  7),  that 
some  asked  him  ;  Mark  (xiii.  3),  that  Peter ^  James, 
John,  and  Andrew  asked  him  privately.  While  Mark 
alone  adds  that  strikingly  significant  circumstance  that 
the  cock  crew  twice  before  the  Apostle's  conscience  was 
aroused ;  ^  he  alone  adds  to  the  expression  of  Matthew 
(xxviii.  7),  in  the  message  of  the  angel  after  the  resurrec- 
tion, that  equally  striking  and  significant  closing  name  of 
the  denier  :  "  But  go  your  way,  tell  his  disciples  and  Peter 
that  he  goeth  before  you  into  Galilee  (Mark  xvi.  7). 

It  is  a  still  more  striking  fact,  that  things  recorded  in 
the  other  Gospels,  which  reflect  peculiar  honor  upon  Peter, 
are  modestly  passed  over  in  this.  Matthew  alone  records 
the  attempt  to  walk  upon  the  sea  (Matt.  xiv.  28-32). 
There  is  nothing  said  of  the  bitterness  of  Peter's  weep- 
ing after  his  denial  of  his  Master.^  But  most  remark- 
able of  all  —  considering  the  fact  that  Mark  wrote  for 
the  Roman,  and  that  the  later  Rome  built  its  pretentious 
and  inquisitorial  hierarchy  chiefly  upon  this  one  state- 
ment —  is  the  absence  of  the  benediction  given  to  Peter 
on  the  occasion  of  his  explicit  confession  of  the  Messiah- 
ship  and  Divine  Sonship  of  Jesus  :  "  Blessed  art  thou, 
Simon  Bar-jona  ;  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it 
unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  And  I  say 
also  unto  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I 
will  build  my  Church  ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  it.     And  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of 

1  Compare  Matt.  xxvi.  34,  75 ;  Luke  xxii.  34,  61  ;  John  xiii.  33,  xviii. 
27  ;  with  Mark  xiv.  30,  63,  72. 

2  Compare  Mark  xiv.  72,  witli  Matt.  xxvi.  75,  and  Luke  xxii.  62. 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  203 

the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind 
on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  thou 
shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  ^  Could 
anything  more  clearly  mark  the  guidance  of  inspiration  ? 
It  seems  like  a  divine  protest  and  provision  against  the 
Papal  perversion  of  the  passage  with  its  doctrine  of  the 
keys,  that  it  should  have  been  omitted  in  the  very  Gospel 
for  the  Roman. 

It  is  likewise  worthy  of  note  that  Mark,  in  his  treat- 
ment of  themes  connected  with  the  geography  of  Pales- 
tine and  with  Jewish  rites  and  customs,  seems  always  to 
assume  such  a  reader  as  the  Roman  undoubtedly  was. 

It  has  already  been  made  evident,  that  there  is,  in  gen- 
eral, in  the  second  Gospel  as  compared  with  the  first,  a 
paucity  of  references  to  all  matters  that  would  require 
a  Jewish  reader,  or  copious  explanations  for  the  Gentile 
reader,  in  order  to  make  clear  the  point  and  drift  of  the 
narrative ;  and  as  compared  with  the  third,  an  absence  of 
the  accurate  geographic  and  historic  statements  so  neces- 
sary to  the  reasoning  Greek,  whose  character  would  impel 
him  to  the  mental  reconstruction  of  the  history  and  to- 
pography, but  so  useless  to  the  Roman,  intent  only  on 
the  incidents  themselves  as  exhibiting  the  power  of  the 
almighty  conqueror. 

With  Mark  the  full  impression  designed  to  be  made  is 
not  ordinarily  dependent  upon  a  minute  and  accurate  ac- 
quaintance with  Jewish  peculiarities  and  places.  When 
explanations  of  such  things  are  introduced  it  is  rather  to 
add  vividness  to  the  impression  than  merely  to  give  in- 
formation. But  that  he  does  not  entirely  withhold  such 
explanations  because  of  the  familiarity,  either  partial  or 
entire,  of  his  readers  with  matters  essentially  Jewish  — 
as  some  one  has  asserted  —  may  be  seen  at  once  from 
his  record  of  the  discourse  about  unwashen  hands  (vii. 
1  Compare  Matt.  xvi.  13-20,  with  Mark  viii.  27-30,  and  Luke  ix.  18-21. 


204       MARK,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  ROMAN. 

1-5),  as  compared  with  the  parallel  account  of  Matthew 
(xv.  1-3).  Evidently  the  reader  for  whom  Mark  wrote 
that  account  was  not  familiar  with  Jewish  customs  ;  and 
in  this  we  have  an  unanswerable  argument  against  the 
hypothesis  which  represents  the  usual  absence  of  explana- 
tions as  arising  from  such  familiarity.  The  explanation  is 
too  elementary  and  superficial  for  the  Greek ;  it  was  not 
needed  by  the  Jew  ;  but  it  exactly  met  the  needs  of  the 
Roman. 

Roman  Expressions.  While  all  the  features  thus 
far  noticed  are  best  explained  by  the  supposition  that  the 
second  Gospel  was  written,  as  history  afiirms,  for  the  Ro- 
mans, there  are  certain  expressions  and  forms  of  expres- 
sion which  are,  if  possible,  still  more  decisively  Roman. 

Of  this  nature  is  the  employment  by  Mark  of  Latin 
words  in  Greek  form,  a  thing  which  is  nowhere  else  found 
in  the  New  Testament.  The  paralytic  when  healed  is 
commanded  to  take  up  his  bed.  Here  Mark  (ii.  12) 
uses  the  word  Kpa^arrov,  the  Greek  form  of  the  Latin  gra- 
hatum  ;  instead  of  the  pure  Greek  work  kXivt)  (Matt.  ix. 
6),  or  kXlvlSlov  (Luke  v.  19,  24).  Li  recording  Herod's 
sending  for  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist,  Mark  (vi.  27) 
uses  the  word  <nr€Kov\dTO)p,  which  is  translated  executioner 
in  our  English  version,  but  which  means  a  soldier  of  the 
hody-guard  rather.  It  is  the  purely  Latin  word  specu- 
lator spelled  with  Greek  letters.  The  word  ^eVrTys 
(Mark  vii.  4),  translated  pots^  is  doubtless  simply  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  Latin  sextus  or  sextarius,  meaning  the 
sixth  part  of  some  larger  measure,  and  nearly  corre- 
sponding to  the  English  pint  measure,  mug,  or  bowl. 
Mark,  and  he  only,  explains  the  tivo  mites  of  the  widow, 
XeiTTa  Suo  (xii.  42),  by  the  word  x^P^pai^Tr;?,  a  Greek  spell- 
ing of  the  Latin  quadrans,  the  fourth  part  of  the  well- 
known  Roman  coin,  the  as.  The  ceyiturion  who  had 
charge  of  the  crucifixion  is  called  by  Matthew  and  Luke, 


INCIDENTAL    VARIATIONS.  205 

in  pure  Greek,  eKarovTapxr]^,  but  Mark  (xv.  39,  44)  calls 
him  KciTuptW,  which  is  the  Latin  centurio  in  Greek  letters. 
These  Latin  words  would  have  been  unintelligible  to 
readers  of  a  purely  Greek  culture. 

Of  like  character  is  Mark's  use  of  the  Roman  division 
of  the  night  into  four  watches,  —  evening,  midnight, 
cock-crowing  (Latin,  gallicinium)^  and  morning.  An 
examination  and  comparison  of  the  various  Gospels  will 
show  that  this  is  peculiar  to  Mark,  the  other  Evangelists 
retaining  the  ordinary  Jewish  division  into  three  watches.^ 

Such  incidental  features,  the  consideration  of  which 
might  be  extended  indefinitely,  can  only  be  satisfactorily 
explained  by  the  theory  that  the  second  Gospel  was  writ- 
ten for  Roman  readers. 

SUMMARY. 

From  the  point  now  reached,  taking  into  account  not 
only  the  weight  of  the  separate  indications  of  a  Roman 
aim,  but  also  the  combined  force  of  all  the  considerations 
adduced,  the  Roman  adaptation  of  the  second  Gospel  can- 
not reasonably  be  denied. 

It  has  been  seen  to  be  a  historical  fact,  that  Mark,  a 
Roman  in  character  and  probably  by  birth,  prepared  this 
Gospel  from  the  preaching  of  Peter,  for  Roman  readers, 
the  men  who  were  the  workers,  conquerors,  and  rulers  of 
the  world.  This  is  the  stable  historical  basis  of  the 
theory. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  the  second  Gospel  itself 
everywhere  bears  the  marks  of  its  Roman  origin  and 
aim.  This  is  manifest  in  its  entire  plan,  which  involves 
the  presentation  of  the  divine  power  and  activity  of  our 
Lord,  and  which  views  his  life  as  one  career  of  conflict 
and  conquest  ending  in  the  universal  sway  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  It  is  no  less  manifest  in  the  omissions  and 
1  Compare  Matt.  xxiv.  42-46  with  Mark  xiii.  35,  and  Luke  xii.  38. 


206  MARK,    THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   ROMAN. 

additions  made  by  the  Evangelist,  all  of  whicli  have  been 
shown  to  be  explained  by  his  Roman  design.  It  is 
equally  clear  in  all  the  incidental  variations  of  the  Gos- 
pel, everything  in  it  receiving  its  tone  and  color  from  the 
Roman  aim  with  which  it  was  produced. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  too  much  to  claim  that  the  historical 
view  combines  with  the  critical,  that  Irenaeus  and  Clem- 
ent and  Jerome  join  with  the  general  plan,  the  particular 
scope,  and  the  minute  details  of  the  Gospel  itself,  in 
establishing  the  theory  that  Mark  was  originally  the 
Gospel  for  the  Roman  ;  and  not  too  much  to  afl&rm 
that  this  theory  furnishes  the  true  key  to  the  Gospel. 


PAET    TV. 


LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

"  Thou  seemest  human  and  divine, 
The  highest,  holiest  manhood  thou." 

Alfred  Tennyson. 

"  Forasmuch  as  many  have  taken  in  hand  to  set  forth  in  order  a  dec- 
laration of  those  things  which  are  most  surely  believed  among  us,  even 
as  they  delivered  them  unto  us,  which  from  the  beginning  were  eye-wit- 
nesses, and  ministers  of  the  word  ;  it  seemed  good  to  me  also,  having  had 
perfect  understanding  of  all  things  (rather,  having  traced  down  every- 
thing) from  the  very  first,  to  write  unto  thee  in  order,  most  excellent 
Theophilus,  that  thou  mightest  know  the  certainty  of  those  things, 
wherein  thou  hast  been  instructed."  Luke,  i.  1-4. 

"  Tertius  Lucas  medicus,  natione  Syrus  Antiochensis  (cujus  laus  in 
Evangelio),  qui  et  ipse  discipulus  apostoli  Pauli,  in  Achaiae  Bceotiseque 
(Bithyniaeque)  partibus  volumen  condidit  (2  Cor,  viii.  18,  19),  quaedam 
altius  repetens,  et  ut  ipse  in  prooemio  confitetur,  audita  magis,  quam  visa 
describens."  Jerome. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HISTORICAL  VIEW  OF  THE  GREEK  ADAPTATION  OF  THE 
THIRD  GOSPEL. 

SECTION  1. 

ORIGIN  AND   DESIGN   OF   THE   THIRD   GOSPEL. 

What  was  the  actual  origin  of  the  Gospel  according  to 
Luke  ?  For  what  class  of  readers  was  it  originally  de- 
signed ? 

Manifestly  the  third  Gospel  was  immediately  addressed 


208        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

to  the  same  Theopliilus  (Luke  i.  3)  to  whom  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  was  addressed  (Acts  i.  1).  The  name  is 
Greek,  meaning  lover  of  God.  Who  he  was  can  only  be 
conjectured.  Some  have  supposed,  from  the  meaning  of 
the  name,  that  it  was  used,  not  to  represent  any  particu- 
lar person,  but  Christians  in  general ;  others  have  con- 
cluded that  he  was  probably  an  honored  Greek  with 
whom  the  Evangelist  had  been  at  some  time  intimately 
associated  ;  while  most  have  agreed  that  he  was  only  the 
representative  of  a  large  class  to  whom  the  Gospel  had 
been  preached,  and  with  whom  Luke,  under  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  desired  to  leave  it  as  a  permanent 
treasure. 

But  although  the  Gospel  was  addressed  immediately 
to  Theophilus,  yet,  when  the  subject  is  investigated  from 
the  historical  point  of  view,  the  statements  of  most  trust- 
worthy witnesses  make  it  sufficiently  clear  that  Luke 
wrote  it  for  the  Greek,  the  representative  of  the  Gentile 
world  at  large. 

Witnesses.  The  first  witness  to  the  fact  is  Irena^us, 
who  flourished  in  the  second  century,  and  was,  in  his  day, 
the  most  celebrated  teacher  in  that  school  of  teachers  in 
Asia  Minor,  which  may  be  traced  back  to  the  labors  of 
the  Apostle  John,  and  which  was  at  once  the  most  intel- 
ligent and  orthodox  of  the  early  schools  of  Christianity. 
Irenaeus  is  a  most  competent  and  credible  witness.  His 
teacher  was  Polycarp.  He  received  the  great  facts  con- 
cerning our  Lord  and  his  Apostles  as  Polycarp  had  re- 
ceived them  from  the  lips  of  the  Apostle  John.^ 

Irenaeus,  in  the  same  passage  in  which  he  states  the 
origin  of  the  first  and  second  Gospels,  declares  that 
"  Luke,  the  companion  of  Paul,  put  down  in  a  book  the 
Gospel  preached   by  him   (Paul)."  ^     Farther   on,   Ire- 

1  Ireu.  Afjainst  Ilores.  iii.  3-4  ;  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  v.  20. 

2  Iren.  Against  Heres,  iii.  1. 


ORIGIN   AND  DESIGN.  209 

naeus  states  that  "  Luke,  wlio  always  preached  in  com- 
pany with  Paul,  and  is  called  by  him  '  the  beloved  phy- 
sician,' and  with  him  performed  the  work  of  an  Evangel- 
ist, and  who  was  intrusted  to  hand  down  to  us  a  Gospel, 
learned  nothing  different  from  him  (Paul)."i  This  tes- 
timony is  confirmed  by  Eusebius."^ 

Origen,  who  flourished,  as  has  been  seen,  in  the  first 
half  of  the  third  century,  and  whose  wide  and  familiar 
acquaintance  with  the  churches  of  Palestine  and  Asia 
Minor,  gave  him  ready  access  to  the  best  tradition  of  the 
early  Church  on  this  subject  —  affirms  that  the  Gospel 
according  to  Luke  was  written  for  the  sake  of  those 
Greeks  who  turned  to  the  faith,  and  that  it  was  also 
commended  by  Paul.^ 

Gregory  Nazianzen,  called  also  the  Theologian,  bishop 
of  Constantinople  in  the  fourth  century,  in  his  didactic 
and  theological  poems,  affirms,  for  the  edification  of  the 
Church,  that  *'  Luke,  the  companion  of  Paul,  that  great 
servant  of  Christ,  wrote  the  wonderful  works  (in  his 
Gospel)  in  Greece  ;  "  and  also  "  for  the  Greeks."^ 

Jerome,  in  the  prologue  to  his  commentary  on  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew,  in  recording  his  view  of  the  origin 
of  the  four  Gospels,  says  :  "  The  third  is  that  of  Luke, 
the  physician,  a  native  of  Antioch,  in  Syria  (whose  praise 
is  in  the  Gospel)  ;  who  was  also  himself  a  disciple  of  the 
Apostle  Paul ;  and  who  produced  his  work  in  the  regions 
of  Achaia  and  Boeotia,  repeating  some  things  more  amply, 
and,  as  he  confesses  in  his  preface,  describing  what  he 
had  heard  rather  that  what  he  had  seen."  According^  to 
another  reading,  the  Gospel  was  produced  "  in  the  regions 
of  Achaia  and  Bithynia.''^  ^ 

'^Against  Heres.  iii.  14,  1. 

'^  Hist.  Eccles.  vi.  25. 

3  Origen,  as  given  by  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  vi.  25. 

*  Carmin.  lib.  i.  sect.  i.  22,  vers.  1  ;  sect.  i.  12,  vers.  32. 

*  Hieron.  Comment,  in  Evang.  Matth.  proleg.  3,  4. 

14 


210  LUKE,   THE   GOSPEL  FOR   THE   GREEK. 

Pertinent  Facts.  The  chief  facts  touching  the  origin 
and  design  of  the  third  Gospel,  as  presented  by  these 
witnesses,  are,  that  Luke  wrote  the  Gospel  which  bears 
his  name  ;  that  it  was  substantially  that  which  he  and 
Paul  had  proclaimed  to  the  Greek  world  ;  that  it  was 
produced  and  published  among  Greek  peoples  ;  and  that 
while  addressed  formally  to  Theophilus,  it  was  really 
written  for  the  Greeks  as  representing  the  Gentile  world, 
and  suited  to  commend  Jesus  to  them  as  their  Saviour. 

The  main  statements  thus  brought  to  light  seem  to 
have  been  received,  almost  without  question,  in  the  early 
centuries  of  the  Church.  The  witnesses  are  substantially 
the  same  as  those  cited  in  Matthew  and  Mark,  and  are  in 
general  the  writers  on  whom  the  Church  depends  largely 
for  the  settlement  of  the  historical  questions  upon  which 
our  faith  in  the  canon  of  the  Scriptures  ultimately  rests. 
The  considerations  already  presented,  touching  their  char- 
acter and  competenc}^,  have  equal  weight  in  their  appli- 
cation to  the  origin  of  the  third  Gospel. 

In  fine,  it  cannot  be  reasonably  maintained  that  their 
statements  are  not  in  agreement  with  history,  and  that 
they  did  not  arise  out  of  history.  Luke  undoubtedly 
prepared  his  Gospel  for  the  Greeks,  for  the  purpose  of 
commending  to  them  Jesus  as  their  Saviour. 

SECTION  n. 

THE  CHABACTER  AND  NEEDS  OF  THE  GREEK. 

If  the  third  Gospel  originated  in  the  preaching  of  Paul 
as  moulded  by  the  agency  of  Luke,  and  was  prepared  for 
Theophilus  as  a  representative  Greek,  and  for  Greek 
readers  in  general,  then  the  character  and  needs  of  the 
Greek  must  furnish  the  key  to  this  Gospel. 

What  manner  of  man,  then,  was  the  Greek?  What 
were  his  spiritual  needs  ?     Correct  answers  to  these  ques- 


THE    GREEK   CHARACTER.  211 

tions  will  render  luminous  the  Gospel  prepared  under  the 
influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  Greek  race. 

I.   The   Greeks, 

The  Greeks  are  clearly  distinguished  from  the  other 
great  historic  races  by  certain  marked  characteristics. 
They  were  the  representatives  of  reason  and  humanity 
in  the  ancient  world.  They  looked  upon  themselves  as 
having  the  mission  of  perfecting  men.  They  were  the 
cosmopolites  of  that  age.  They  made  their  gods  in  the 
likeness  of  men,  in  their  own  likeness,  and  therefore  joined 
to  human  culture  utter  worldliness  and  godlessness. 

Out  of  these  peculiar  characteristics,  as  modified  by  the 
age  and  circumstances,  arose  those  spiritual  needs  of  the 
Greeks  which  were  to  be  met  by  the  Evangelist.  Along 
the  line  thus  marked  out  must  be  sought  the  adequate 
understanding  of  the  Gospel  prepared  by  Luke. 

The  Representative  of  Reason.  The  Greek  was 
the  representative  of  reason  and  humanity  in  the  ancient 
world.  Every  great  race  shows  some  part  of  man's  nature 
in  unusual  development.  In  the  old  Jewish  race,  the 
spirit,  or  that  part  of  man  which  links  him  to  God,  was 
the  predominant  element.  The  Jew  belonged  to  the  race 
of  Shem,  which  has  never  done  what  is  considered  the 
world's  great  intellectual  work,  but  which  has,  neverthe- 
less, made  all  the  grandest  ventures  out  into  the  domain 
of  the  infinite,  and  as  a  result  has  given  mankind  those 
three  systems  of  theism,  —  Judaism,  Christianity,  and 
Mohammedanism,  —  which  contain  the  highest  expression 
of  the  human  soul  from  its  spiritual  and  heavenly  side. 
In  the  old  Roman  race,  the  will,  or  that  part  of  man  which 
pushes  to  action,  and  enables  him  to  control  and  mould 
nature  and  mankind,  was  the  predominant  element.  His 
herculean  tasks  and  his  universal  empire  furnish  the 
highest  expressions  of   the  human  soul  as  the  repository 


212        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

of  the  energy  for  shaping  the  world  to  law  and  order. 
In  the  old  Greek  race,  the  humanity,  especially  as  em- 
bracing intellect,  taste,  and  feeling,  was  the  prominent 
feature.  The  Greek  belonged  to  that  family  of  Japheth 
which  has  done  all  of  what  is  usually  regarded  the  world's 
great  intellectual  work,  has  given  it  all  those  grand  secu- 
lar literatures  which  contain  the  highest  expression  of  the 
soul  from  its  human  and  earthly  side. 

The  Perfecter  of  Man.  The  Greek  looked  upon  him- 
self as  having  the  mission  of  perfecting  man.  Through 
all  the  ages,  in  literature  and  art,  in  statecraft  and  g^^m- 
nastics,  he  was  working  toward  his  one  great  idea  of  the 
perfect  man.  In  his  ideal,  intellect  and  taste  held  the 
supreme  place.  His  aim  was  not  the  beautiful  man  in  the 
lower  sense  merely,  but  thinking,  reasoning  man,  with  his 
intellect  full-summed,  farthest  reaching,  most  gracefully 
working.  He  accordingly  bequeathed  to  the  world  the 
grandest  models  of  beauty  and  of  thought  that  the  unaided 
human  mind  has  ever  produced.  Counting  the  great 
poets  of  all  lands  and  ages  on  the  fingers  of  the  right 
hand.  Homer  is  among  the  number.  Plato  and  Aristotle 
have  contended  until  the  present  day  for  the  place  of 
authority  in  philosophy.  Demosthenes  has  never  yet 
been  placed  second  on  the  roll  of  eloquence. 

The  "Worshiper  of  Man.  The  Greek  made  his 
gods  in  the  likeness  of  man,  of  himself.  In  his  view  of 
the  universe,  man  was  exalted  above  all  other  beings,  and 
the  Greek  man  wore  the  crown  of  perfectness.  His 
religion  was  the  highest  of  the  idolatries,  the  most  attract- 
ive of  the  polytheisms.  The  Hindoos  asked  men  to 
worship  monstrous  emblems  of  physical  power  ;  the 
Egyptians,  life  in  all  its  forms  down  to  the  most  repul- 
sive ;  the  Roman,  Rome  and  the  Emperor.  The  Greek 
was  broader  than  all  these,  the  Greek  idea  nobler.  Hu- 
manity seemed  most  divine  to  him  —  diviner   than   all 


THE   GREEK   CHARACTER.  213 

physical  forces,  than  all  physical  life,  than  empires  and 
emperors  ;  man  himself  diviner  than  all  his  own  works, 
and  than  all  the  world.  The  man  on  earth,  with  the 
grandest  power  of  thought  and  beauty  of  speech  and 
action,  was  the  highest  man  for  the  Greek,  and  nearest 
the  place  which  he  thought  the  gods  ought  to  occupy. 

The  Universal  Man.  These  characteristics  of  the 
Greek  brought  him  into  sympathy  with  man  as  man,  and 
made  him  in  the  ancient  world  the  representative  of  uni- 
versal humanity.  The  Jew  and  the  Roman  were  by 
nature  exclusive.  The  Jew  could  fraternize  readily  with 
him  only  who  came  from  Abraham  and  received  the 
prophets  ;  the  Roman  with  him  only  who  wielded  power 
in  the  empire,  or  was  born  to  a  place  in  the  empire. 
The  full-grown  Jew  was  a  Pharisee  ;  the  full-grown  Ro- 
man a  Caesar ;  but  the  full-grown  Greek  was  a  world- 
man.  Every  man  had  something  —  and  that  among  the 
chief  things  in  his  manhood  —  in  common  with  the  Greek. 
Man  is  a  thinking,  reasoning  being.  He  was  made  to 
seek  the  true,  to  love  the  beautiful,  to  sympathize  with 
human  kind.  All  men  could,  therefore,  meet  the  Greek 
as  they  could  not  the  Jew  or  the  Roman.  The  Greek 
could  meet  all  the  world  on  the  common  platform  of 
humanity  as  the  Jew  and  Roman  could  not. 

The  Worldly  and  Godless  Man.  It  is  evident  that 
there  were  some  fearful  defects  in  that  old  Greek  view  of 
things. 

His  religious  system  provided  for  taking  out  all  the 
virtue  from  the  world.  The  Greek  deified  all  of  man, 
—  what  was  base  as  well  as  what  was  truly  noble  and 
godlike.  To  him,  the  passions  —  even  to  the  basest  — 
were  as  godlike  as  the  virtues  ;  Venus  and  Bacchus  and 
Pluto  as  much  gods  as  Jupiter  and  Apollo  and  Minerva. 
It  was  the  ever-recurring  and  always  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt of  poor  fallen  man,  unaided  of  Heaven,  to  make  a 


214  LUKE,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR  THE   GREEK. 

god  in  his  own  image,  that  should  satisfy  the  wants  of 
his  souL  His  was  a  system  that  held,  planted  in  its  very 
heart,  the  seeds  of  moral  decay  and  death,  and  which  must, 
therefore,  end  in  debasing  man  and  in  perishing  of  inter- 
nal corruption. 

It  left  no  room  for  spirituality.  In  deifying  man,  it 
brought  God  down  to  the  level  of  man  and  to  the  base- 
ness of  man.  Man  was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  and 
there  is  a  sense  in  which  he  must  make  his  god  for  him- 
self in  his  own  image ;  but  he  must  do  it  by  an  upward 
sweep  of  thought,  reaching  the  true  idea  of  God  by 
removing  the  limitations,  casting  aside  the  defects,  and 
exalting  the  excellences  of  his  own  nature.  The  Greek 
attempted  it  by  making  his  gods  just  like  himself. 
There  was  nothing  heavenly  and  spiritual  about  them  ; 
they  were  '*  of  the  earth,  earthy."  His  gods  made  his 
religion  base  and  unspiritual  as  themselves.  His  "  sweet- 
ness and  light  "  became  the  bitterness  and  shadow  of 
sin  and  death. 

His  religion  had  in  it  a  kind  of  attractiveness,  but  it 
took  all  the  grandeur  out  of  the  universe.  Instead  of 
seeing  the  supreme  God  and  Father  everywhere  and  in 
all  things  —  shining  in  the  beauty,  dazzling  in  the  glory, 
giving  in  the  fruitfulness,  speaking  in  the  truth  —  he 
saw  himself  imaged  there.  It  was  man's  universe,  not 
Jehovah's.  He  humanized  the  clouds,  the  forests,  the 
rivers,  the  seas ;  peopled  them  with  deities  and  half  dei- 
ties, with  satyrs  and  fauns,  with  muses  and  nymphs,  each 
of  which  represented  some  side  of  man's  nature.  He  set 
upon  everything  his  own  image  and  superscription.  If 
there  was  any  real  and  mighty  God,  an}^  power  irresisti- 
bly making  for  righteousness  and  yet  overflowing  with 
love,  the  Greek  had  pushed  him  afar  off  and  out.  At 
best  there  remained  but  a  horrible  dream  of  God  in  his 
conception    of    all-comprehending    and    relentless    fate. 


THE   GREEK   CHARACTER.  215 

The  altar  "  to  the  unknown  god "  became  the  only 
Greek  altar  which  was  in  any  sense  an  altar  to  the  true 
God. 

In  short,  the  Greek  theory  blotted  out  the  other  and 
higher  world,  and  left  him  utterly  worldly,  "  having  no 
hope  and  without  God  in  the  world."  This  world  was 
his  province,  his  home,  his  grave.  He  sought  his  hap- 
piness in  it.  His  only  wish  was  that  it  might  last  for- 
ever. "  The  more  the  Greek  attached  himself  to  this 
world,"  says  F.  W.  Robertson,  "  the  more  the  unseen 
became  a  dim  world  of  shades.  The  earlier  traditions 
of  the  deep-thinking  Orientals,  which  his  forefathers 
brought  from  Asia,  died  slowly  away,  and  any  one  who 
reminded  him  of  them  was  received  as  one  would  now  be 
who  were  to  speak  of  purgatory.  The  cultivated  Athen- 
ians were,  for  the  most  part  skeptics  in  the  time  of 
Christ.  Accordingly,  when  Paul  preached  at  Athens 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  '  they  mocked.'  This  bright 
world  was  all.  Its  revels,  its  dances,  its  theatrical  exhi- 
bitions, its  races,  its  battles,  its  academic  groves  where 
literary  leisure  luxuriated,  these  were  blessedness,  and 
the  Greek's  hell  was  death.  Their  poets  speak  pathetic- 
ally of  the  misery  of  the  wrench  from  all  that  is  dear  and 
brisjht.  The  dreadfulness  of  death  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  things  that  meet  us  in  those  ancient  writ- 
ings." 1 

II.   The  Key  to  Luke's   Crospel. 

In  the  character  and  condition  of  the  Greek  civilization 
in  the  apostolic  age  is  to  be  found  the  key  to  the  third 
Gospel. 

The  Greek  thought  and  culture  had  been  the  common 
possession  of  mankind  for  four  centuries,  when  Luke  sent 
forth  his  Gospel  from  Antioch.     It  had  done  its  best  for 

1  Sermons.    First  Advent  Lecture,  "  The  Grecian." 


216        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

the  world  in  bringing  the  races  together  and  preparing 
them  for  the  grander  Christian  view  of  the  brotherhood 
of  humanity  ;  but  it  had,  nevertheless,  utterly  failed  to 
help  the  Greek  to  attain  to  his  ideal  of  the  perfect  man- 
hood. ■  The  vices  of  the  system  had  everywhere  brought 
decay  and  corruption.  The  old  faith  in  it  was  gone  be- 
yond possible  recovery.  Its  beauties  and  graces  remained 
in  the  memory  of  the  race  only  as  pleasant  dreams  or 
poetic  fancies. 

Its  polytheism,  as  always,  had  brought  dissipation  of 
mind.  When  Paul  entered  Athens,  he  foui^d  that  "  all 
the  Athenians  and  strangers  which  were  there,  spent 
their  time  in  nothing  else,  but  either  to  tell  or  to  hear 
some  new  thing ;  "  and  were  ready  to  think  him  a  "  bab- 
bler "  who  should  have  aught  to  say  of  God  and  immor- 
tality. A  thirst  for  something  new,  equaled  only  by  the 
despair  of  the  old,  had  everywhere  taken  possession  of  the 
mind  of  the  age. 

The  indiscriminate  worship  of  humanity  had  ushered 
in  the  reign  of  materialism  and  sensuality,  and  the  Greek 
had  almost  ceased  to  be  more  than  a  reasoning  animal. 
The  worship  of  the  beautiful  had  ended,  as  always,  in 
putting  the  accomplishments  in  the  place  of  all  manly 
and  womanly  virtues.  In  short,  religion  had  become  a 
mockery,  and  virtue  had  perished. 

There  was  nothing  left  to  the  Greek  worth  living  for, 

—  no  divine  fatherhood  to  bear  him  comfort ;  no  grand 
mission  in  this  world  to  gird  and  train  him  to  power, 
no  golden  age  save  in  the  distant  past,  no  glorious  im- 
mortality in  the  world  beyond  to  open  before  him  sub- 
lime reaches  of  progress  and  measureless  heights  of  hope, 

—  nothing  but  the  earth  and  the  present,  with  failure 
already  crushing  him,  and  death  with  its  everlasting 
sleep  remorselessly  pursuing  him.  Utter  restlessness  and 
wretchedness  had  seized  upon   the  greatest   and   purest 


THE   GREEK   CHARACTER.  21T 

minds,  and  the  old,  undefined  longing  for  some  divine 
man  was  everywhere  verging  toward  despair,  save  as  the 
Jew  had  quickened  and  made  it  more  hopeful  by  spread- 
ing abroad  his  idea  of  the  Messiah,  as  the  coming  deliv- 
erer of  the  world. 

When  the  Gospel  went  forth  from  Antioch  for  the  re- 
generation of  the  Greek,  it  found  the  world-language 
waiting  to  bear  the  world-religion  to  this  longing  and  de- 
spairing but  desperately  corrupt  race,  and  to  all  who  had 
been  moulded  to  its  ways  of  thinking  and  living. 

It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  the  Greek  must  be  reached 
by  a  peculiar  presentation  of  the  Gospel,  a  presentation 
shaped  by  tliese  characteristics  in  his  nature  and  condition. 

As  the  Messiah  of  the  prophets,  Jesus  of  Nazareth  had 
an  interest  for  the  Jew  ;  as  the  Son  of  God,  the  almighty 
worker  and  conqueror,  he  had  an  interest  for  the  Roman ; 
but  in  neither  of  these  aspects  would  he  interest  the 
thinking  Greek.  A  Gospel  for  the  Greek  must  be  shaped 
by  the  Greek  idea  ;  must  present  the  character  and  career 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  from  tlie  Greek  point  of  view,  as 
answering  to  the  conception  of  a  perfect  and  divine  hu- 
manity ;  must  exhibit  him  as  adapted,  in  his  power  and 
mercy,  in  his  work  and  mission,  to  the  wants  of  the 
Greek  soul,  and  of  humanity  as  represented  in  it.  It 
must  present  Jesus  as  the  perfect  man,  to  meet  the  Greek 
ideal ;  as  the  divine  man,  to  cure  the  wretchedness  of  the 
despairing  Greek.  It  must  bring  God  and  the  invisible 
world  near,  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  longing  Greek  soul, 
and  elevate  it  above  itself  and  into  communion  with 
God ;  must  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind  Greek  to  see 
the  sinfulness  of  sin  and  the  beauty  and  desirableness 
of  virtue  and  holiness.  Reason  and  beauty,  righteous- 
ness and  truth,  dignity  and  earnestness,  must  be  exhib- 
ited as  they  meet  in  Jesus  in  their  full  splendor,  and 
his  divine  tenderness  and  compassion  must  have  univer- 


/ 


218        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOE  THE  GREEK. 

sal  sweep.  It  must  open  the  way  to  a  mission  grand 
enough  for  man  here,  and  must  bring  to  light  an  im- 
mortality beyond.  In  short,  the  Gospel  must  meet  the 
true  and  correct  the  false  in  the  Greek  ideal. 

Wordsworth  has  well  said :  "  The  universality  of  man's 
apostasy  from  the  primeval  Law  of  God ;  the  universality 
of  the  guilt  of  mankind  ;  the  universality  of  the  misery 
in  which  the  human  race  lay ;  the  universality  of  their 
need  of  a  Redeemer  and  a  Saviour  ;  the  universality  of  the 
redemption  accomplished  by  Christ  dying  upon  the  cross 
for  the  sins  of  the  world  ;  the  universality  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  constituted  by  him  to  be  the  dispenser  to  all 
nations  of  all  the  means  of  grace  flowing  from  his  sac- 
rifice ;  and  the  preparatory  and  transitory  character  and 
function  of  the  Levitical  law  and  priesthood,  —  these  were 
solemn  topics  on  which  all  men  needed  to  be  instructed, 
particularly  the  Gentile  world."  ^ 

To  the  Greek  these  are  the  credentials  of  Jesus,  no 
less  essential  than  prophecy  to  the  Jew,  or  power  to  the 
Roman.  Without  them  there  could  not  even  be  a  rea- 
sonable hope  of  arresting  his  attention,  much  less  of  lead- 
ing him  to  submit  to  Jesus  as  his  Saviour.  The  Greek 
soul  of  that  age  furnishes  the  true  key  k)  the  third  Gospel. 


SECTION  III. 
THE  AUTHORSHIP   OF   THE   THIBD   GOSPEL. 

The  authorship  of  the  third  Gospel  accords  with  the 
historic  facts  concerning  its  origin  and  design.  As  Mat- 
thew was  eminently  fitted  by  his  Jewish  nature  and  cult- 
ure to  embody  the  Gospel  for  the  Jewish  race  ;  Mark, 
by  his  character,  wide  knowledge  of  the  empire,  and  in- 
timate association  with  Peter,  the  man  of  action,  to  do 

1  Wordsworth,  Introduction  to  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  p.  161. 


THE   AUTHORSHIP.  219 

the  same  work  for  the  Roman  race ;  and  John,  by  his 
rich  and  ripe  spiritual  experience  and  deep  sympathy 
with  his  Lord,  to  do  like  work  at  a  later  day  for  the 
gathered  Church  ;  so  it  may  be  shown  that  Luke,  in 
connection  with  Paul,  was  just  the  man  to  give  literary 
shape  to  the  Gospel  for  the  Greek  race. 

I.  Luke. 

Four  things  made  Luke  the  proper  instrument  for 
this  work  :  that  he  was  of  Greek  origin  ;  that  Antioch 
was  doubtless  the  place  of  his  birth  and  residence  ;  that 
he  was  a  physician  by  profession ;  and  that  he  was  the 
disciple  and  companion  of  Paul,  the  Apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tile world. 

Trustworthy  tradition,  as  preserved  by  Eusebius  and 
Jerome,  has  it  that  Luke  was  a  native  of  Antioch  in 
Syria,  or  at  least  had  his  usual  residence  there,  and  that 
he  was  a  proselyte  or  follower  of  Paul.  Paul  places 
him  among  those  of  his  fellow-workers  who  are  not  of 
the  circumcision,  or  who,  in  other  words,  are  of  Gentile 
origin  (Col.  iv.  10-16).  Both  the  Gospel  which  bears 
his  name  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  abundantly  show 
that  his  culture  was  Grecian.  He  belonged  to  a  pro- 
fession which  was  at  that  day  almost  exclusively  in  the 
hands  of  the  Greeks.  From  the  earliest  times  it  has  been 
the  general  opinion  that  he  was  probably  a  Greek  pros- 
elyte, first  to  Judaism,  and  afterward  to  Christianity. 

Epiphanius  asserts  that  Luke  was  one  of  the  seventy 
disciples  sent  out  to  preach  to  the  Gentiles  in  Peraea 
(Luke  X.  1).  Theophylact  declares  that  he  was  not 
only  designated  by  some  as  one  of  the  seventy,  but  that 
he  was  the  one  who,  with  Cleopas,  met  with  the  risen 
Saviour  on  the  way  to  Emmaus.  The  fact  that  Luke 
alone  describes  the  mission  of  the  seventy  and  the  jour- 
ney to  Emmaus  tends  to  confirm   this  tradition.      It  is 


220        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

certain  that  he  was  possessed  of  that  Greek  nature  which 
would  bring  him  into  sympathy  with  the  Greek  soul,  and 
enable  him  to  understand  its  wants. 

That  he  was  a  physician  appears  from  the  tradition 
cited  above,  from  the  statement  of  Paul  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Colossians  (iv.  14),  and  from  abundant  indica- 
tions of  his  knowledge  of  the  profession,  found  in  his 
Gospel  and  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.^  This  was  an 
important  element  in  his  preparation  for  the  work  of 
the  Evangelist  of  the  Gentiles.  His  profession  required 
him  to  be  a  man  of  culture,  gave  him  influence  with 
the  more  refined  classes  of  society,  brought  him  into  sym- 
pathy with  suffering  humanity,  made  possible  such  a  com- 
panionship as  that  which  existed  with  Paul,  and  made 
him  at  once  a  fit  amanuensis  of  that  Apostle,  and  a  fit 
co-laborer  with  him  in  giving  the  Gospel  to  the  Greek 
world. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  his  Greek  culture  fitted  him 
to  prepare  a  Gospel,  to  which  the  objection,  sometimes 
urged  against  the  other  Gospels,  that  they  are  the  pro- 
ductions of  ignorant  and  credulous  men,  cannot  possibly 
apply.  He  was  both  able  and  disposed  to  apply  to  all 
the  facts  before  him  the  scientific  tests  properly  applica- 
ble to  them,  and  he  did  actually  apply  those  tests. 

His  birth  or  residence  at  Antioch  had  a  still  more  im- 

1  Luke  constautly  looks  upon  things  Avith  the  eye  of  a  physician.  For 
example  the  maladies  that  are  mentioned  in  this  Gospel  are  described  with 
more  detail,  and  partly  indicated  by  their  proper  technical  names.  The  fever 
of  which  Peter's  wife's  mother  was  sick  is  spoken  of  by  Luke  only  (iv.  38}  as 
a  strong,  di  great  fever,  in  accordance  with  a  scientific  distinction  still  found 
in  Galen.  Several  similar  illustrations  occur  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
as  in  the  Greek  terms  used  to  describe  the  obscuration  of  vision  in  the 
sorcerer  Elymas  (Acts  xiii.  11),  the  disease  {fever  and  dysentery)  of  which 
Paul  cured  Publins  at  iNIalta  (Acts  xxviii.  8),  and  the  ailment  {an  eating 
by  worms)  of  which  Herod  Airrippa  died  (Acts  xii.  23).  It  has  often  been 
remarked  that  Luke  alone  looks  upon  the  sins  and  sufferings  of  men  and 
the  scenes  on  the  cross  with  the  eye  of  a  physician.  See  Da  Costa,  The 
Four  Witnesses,  p.  146. 


THE    AUTHORSHIP.  221 

portant  bearing  upon  his  mission.  It  was  there  that  the 
work  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Greek  Gentiles  was  first 
begun  by  those  who  Avere  scattered  abroad  by  the  perse- 
cution in  which  Stephen  lost  his  life  (Acts  xi.  19,  20)  ; 
there  that  the  disciples  were  first  called  Christians  (Acts 
xi.  26)  ;  there  that  Paul  was  trained  for  his  life-work 
(Acts  xi.  25)  as  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  and  sent 
forth  to  that  work  (Acts  xiii.  1-3).  Antioch  was  the  me- 
tropolis of  the  Seleucid  dynasty ;  in  culture  the  rival  of 
Corinth  and  Alexandria.  It  became  the  capital  of  Gen- 
tile Christendom,  as  Jerusalem  was  of  Jewish  Christen- 
dom. It  was  the  city  in  which  the  great  missionary 
impulse  of  that  age  was  given,  and  in  which  the  sym- 
pathy of  Christianity  with  all  the  perishing  world 
reached,  under  the  fostering  and  moulding  influence  of 
Barnabas,  Saul,  and  their  co-laborers,  its  greatest  breadth 
and  depth.  To  live  in  Antioch  in  that  age,  and  to  come 
into  sympathy  with  the  Christian  missionary  spirit  there, 
would  give  an  essential  part  of  the  preparation  necessary 
to  fit  Luke  to  be  the  Evangelist  for  the  Gentile  world. 

Most  important  of  all,  in  its  bearing  upon  his  work, 
was  the  association  of  Luke  with  Paul  in  the  actual  mis- 
sionary work.  When  the  call  came  from  Macedonia, 
"  Come  over  and  help  us,"  it  came  to  Luke  as  well  as 
Paul  (Acts  xvi.  10),  and  he  was  with  the  Apostle  in 
that  first  entrance  of  the  Gospel  into  Europe.  All 
through  the  later  missionary  work  of  Paul,  "  the  be- 
loved physician  "  appears  from  time  to  time  as  a  most 
cherished  companion  and  fellow-laborer,  accompanying 
him  in  his  most  perilous  journeys,^  and  standing  by  him 
in  the  critical  moments  of  the  Apostle's  final  struggle  for 
the  faith  when  all  others  forsook  him  (2  Tim.  iv.  11). 

1  This  appears  in  the  Acts,  in  the  use  of  the  plural  of  the  pronoun  of 
the  first  person,  vce,  xvi.  9-17;  xx.  5-38;  and  thence  to  the  end  of  the 
book. 


222       LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEKS. 

II.  Paul. 

Paul,  who  played  so  important  a  part  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  Gospel  for  the  Gentile  world,  was  pre- 
eminently fitted  to  furnish,  with  the  aid  of  Luke,  the 
complete  instrument  for  that  work.  No  more  striking 
example  of  the  fitness  of  the  means  devised  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  divine  ends  can  be  found  even  in  Sacred 
Historj^ 

His  was  the  soul  for  the  world- apostle. 

There  are  a  few  men  who  in  grandeur  of  soul  tower 
above  all  others.  It  is  easy  to  pick  them  out  along  the 
ages  ;  in  truth,  the  venerable  names  rise  unbidden,  — 
Moses,  Plato,  Aristotle,  —  any  one  can  complete  the  list. 
Among  these  confessedly  belongs  the  man  Paul.  The 
world  may  be  challenged  to  find  his  superior  in  simple 
power  of  soul.  Judged  by  the  thought  in  his  writings, 
he  stands  unsiu'passed.  There  is  nothing  like  them  in 
iron  logic,  in  profound  insight,  in  comprehensive  breadth, 
in  all-embracing  grandeur  of  view.  There  is  nothing 
like  them  in  their  expression  of  a  great  human  heart,  in 
its  compassion  for  man,  in  its  love  for  God,  in  its  devo- 
tion to  Jesus  Christ,  —  bearing  the  burden  of  the  apos- 
tate and  perishing  Jew,  reaching  out  after  the  dying 
Gentile,  and  in  visions  of  the  ineffable  glory  anticipating 
the  ecstacy  of  heaven.  Where  in  all  the  centuries  has 
there  ever  appeared  another  such  indomitable  will  ? 
Those  best  fitted  to  judge  have  not  hesitated  to  affirm 
that,  estimated  bj?  his  work,  Paul's  was  the  grandest, 
merely  human  spirit  that  ever  walked  embodied  among 
men. 

His  was  the  culture  for  the  world-apostle. 

He  was  born  and  lived  a  Roman  citizen,  —  a  free-born 
citizen  of  the  one  universal  Empire  of  all  ages,  and  so  a 
citizen  of  that  great  world  to  which  he  was  to  bear  the 
Gospel. 


THE   AUTHORSHIP.  22'3 

His  birthplace  was  Tarsus,  which  at  that  time,  as  wo 
learn  from  Strabo,  was  the  rival  of  Athens  and  Alexan- 
dria as  a  place  of  learning  and  philosophical  research. 
The  entire  Greek  civilization  was  thus  opened  to  him  in 
liis  very  childhood  and  youth ;  and  one  of  the  greatest 
authorities,  Dr.  Bentley,  does  not  hesitate  to  affirm,  that 
"  as  Moses  was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, so  it  is  manifest  from  the  twenty-seventh  chapter  /  7 
of  Acts  alone,  if  nothing  else  had  been  now  extant,  that 
St.  Paul  was  a  great  master  in  all  the  learning  of  the 
Greeks."  That  was  just  the  point  where  the  culture  of 
the  heathen  world  was  at  its  highest ;  and  in  the  full 
blaze  of  that  Greek  civilization,  which  even  now  fur- 
nishes us  with  some  of  the  great  models  of  poetry  and 
the  grandest  models  of  eloquence,  Paul  was  born  and 
spent  his  early  life. 

Born  of  Jewish  parents,  he  went  early  to  Jerusalem, 
the  great  centre  of  Judaism.  He  there  became  a  disci- 
ple of  Gamaliel  (Acts  xxii.  3),  a  distinguished  teacher 
of  the  law,  —  doubtless  the  person  of  that  name  cele- 
brated in  the  writings  of  the  Jewish  Talmudists  as  the 
first  of  the  seven  teachers  to  whom  the  title  of  "  Rabban," 
great  master^  was  given,  and  who  was  also  known  as  "  the 
glory  of  the  law,"  ^  —  one  of  the  seven  preeminentlj^  wise 
teachers.  Judaism,  of  his  knowledge  of  which  we  have 
such  evidence  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  was  un- 
folded to  him,  by  this  its  greatest  teacher,  in  its  length 
and  breadth  and  in  its  sublimest  form.  He  himself 
affirms  that  he  "  profited  more  than  all  his  equals  in  the 
Jew's  religion  "  (Gal.  i.  14). 

One  other  thing  is  needed  to  complete  the  view,  —  his 
relation  to  Christianity.     Such  was  his  situation  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  such  his  connection  with  the  Pharisee  party, 
that  he   must  have  had  extraordinary  opportunities  for 
1  See  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  article  "  Gamaliel." 


224        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

knowing  the  character,  work,  and  fate  of  Jesus  Christ. 
He  must  have  been  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  sect 
of  the  Nazarene  to  be  so  bitter  a  hater  and  persecutor 
of  it. 

In  accordance  with  a  law  of  Divine  Providence  often 
ilhistrated  in  history,  the  man  who  was  to  combat  the 
errors  of  the  world  was  born  and  educated  as  a  world- 
man  —  Jew,  Greek,  and  Roman  at  once  —  at  the  very 
point  in  time  and  space  where  the  brightest  rays  of  Greek 
and  Roman  paganism  and  of  Judaism  and  Christianity 
all  converged  to  a  common  focus. 

His  was  just  the  human  experience  of  salvation  for  the 
world-apostle,  —  the  widest  possible. 

He  writes  to  Timothy  (1  Tim.  i.  15,  16),  "This  is  a 
faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners  ;  of  whom  I 
am  chief.  Howbeit  for  this  cause  I  obtained  mercy,  that 
in  me  first  Jesus  Christ  might  show  forth  all  long  suffer- 
ing, for  a  pattern  to  them  which  should  hereafter  believe 
on  him  to  life  everlasting."  This  passage  sums  up  his 
qualifications  as  a  saved  sinner  to  preach  salvation  to  all 
the  lost  world. 

He  was  the  chief  of  sinners.  His  great  soul  and  his 
great  light  together  rendered  it  possible  that  he  should 
be  this.  His  obstinacy  in  unbelief,  and  rage  in  persecu- 
tion confirm  the  fact  that  he  was  this.  True,  men  have 
attempted  to  explain  away  his  words  by  making  them 
merely  an  expression  of  his  modesty ;  but  the  attempt 
has  been  a  vain  one.  If  ever  in  all  history  there  was  a 
man  who  had  no  such  modesty,  that  man  was  Paul.  If 
in  speaking  or  writing  for  his  Master  it  became  necessary 
to  set  forth  his  great  work  for  Christ,  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  declare,  in  the  plainest  and  most  forcible  Greek  at  his 
command,  that  he  had  endured  more  suffering  and  labored 
more  abundantly  than  all  the  other  Apostles  (1  Cor.  xv. 


THE   AUTHORSHIP.  225 

10;  2Cor.  xi.  23).  If  it  became  necessary  to  defend  Ins 
apostolic  authority,  he  Avas  neither  slow  nor  weak  in 
showing  that  he  was  not  one  whit  behind  even  the  chief 
of  the  Apostles.  Moreover,  there  is  no  consistent  mean- 
ing in  the  passage  in  which  Paul's  declaration,  that  he  is 
the  chief  of  sinners,  occurs,  if  it  be  not  taken  at  its  plain- 
est sense.  The  whole  force  of  the  illustration  that  fol- 
lows depends  upon  so  taking  it.  One  who  will  think  of 
his  mighty  soul,  with  its  world  of  light,  and  then  look 
on  him  in  his  work  of  persecution,  —  as  he  stands,  the 
master  spirit  of  the  hour,  with  the  garments  of  the  right- 
eous Stephen  at  his  feet  and  consents  to  his  death  (Acts 
viii.  1)  ;  as  he  moves  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  with  a 
soul  "  breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter  "  (Acts 
ix.  1)  against  the  innocent  Christians, — will  not  think 
it  too  much  for  him  to  say  of  himself  by  divine  inspira- 
tion: "  Of  whom  I  am  chief.'''' 

He  was  saved  by  the  greatest  of  miracles  of  grace. 
The  story  of  his  conversion  is  perhaps  more  familiar  than 
almost  any  other  in  the  Bible  except  the  story  of  Calvary. 
All  the  features  of  the  scene  are  familiar,  —  the  company 
journeying  toward  Damascus ;  the  sudden  light  from 
heaven  at  midday,  surpassing  the  brightness  of  the  sun ; 
the  voice  of  Jesus  speaking  with  authority  to  his  perse- 
cutor ;  the  answering  question  and  response  ;  Saul  struck 
to  the  ground,  blinded,  and  overcome  ;  the  three  days  of 
suspense  ;  the  coming  of  Ananias  as  the  messenger  of  the 
Lord,  and  Saul's  baptism  and  mission,  —  every  child  can 
fill,  up  the  outline.  Saul,  the  chief  of  sinners,  was  saved 
and  brought  back  to  God,  to  appear  as  Paul  the  saint, 
prepared  to  do  his  grand  work  for  the  Gentile  world,  and 
to  go  up  at  the  last  to  wear  his  everlasting  crown  of 
righteousness.  Amazing  fact,  that  he^  the  chief  of  sin- 
ners, was  saved  by  Jesus  Christ !  Jesus  Christ  showed 
forth  all  long-suffering  in  this  man's  salvation  !  Who 
15 


226  LUKE,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR  THE   GREEK/ 

does  not  see  the  marvelous  patience  of  God  with  Paul, 
the  persecutor  and  blasphemer,  the  Pharisee  of  the  Phari- 
sees, through  those  long  years  ?  Has  there  been  any- 
thing else  equal  to  it  in  all  the  past  ages  ?  And  lest  the 
fact  should  not  be  brought  prominently  enough  before 
perishing  men,  this  same  story  of  Paul's  conversion  is 
written  in  three  different  places  in  the  New  Testament 
(Acts  ix.  ;  xxii.  ;  xxvi.),  that  all  the  world  may  know 
it. 

The  greatest  of  sinners  saved  by  the  greatest  of  grace 
was  just  the  man  to  illustrate  and  to  preach  the  world- 
salvation  to  the  universal  man,  and  to  push  the  work  with 
resistless  energy  out  toward  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Who 
could  so  preach  Christ  to  all  men,  even  the  worst,  as  he? 
Unlike  Peter,  Paul  from  the  beginning  had  all  the  essen- 
tial requisites  of  the  man  of  action.  With  him  all 
thought  was  nearest  possible  to  the  powers  of  motion. 
With  him  the  thought  and  motive  were  grand  and  the 
will  indomitable  even  from  the  first ;  but  when  Jesus 
Christ  took  possession  of  his  being,  the  grandest  of  all 
thoughts,  feelings,  and  purposes  filled  his  soul,  and  he 
went  forth  an  intelligent  and  divinely-guided  co-worker 
with  God  in  his  infinite  plan  for  human  redemption,  — 
to  weep  and  plead  and  labor  for  lost  men,  under  the  deep- 
est possible  sense  of  sin  and  salvation  and  under  the 
greatest  weight  of  gratitude  that  ever  rested  upon  a  hu- 
man soul ;  to  brave  danger  and  death  with  a  purpose  that 
never  faltered  because  he  had  a  profound  and  abiding 
consciousness  that  the  life  which  he  lived  was  the  life  of 
Christ  living  in  him. 

Such  was  the  great  Apostle  whose  coadjutor  Luke 
was.  They  went  forth  together  to  the  conflict  and  con- 
quest, the  hearts  of  both  throbbing  with  a  sympathy  and 
love  that  reached  out  beyond  the  Jew  to  all  mankind. 

It  is  the  unvarying  testimony  of  the  early  Church,  that 


THE   GENERAL  PLAN.  227 

Luke's  Gospel  originated  in  his  companionship  and  work 
with  Paul,  and  that  it  was  moulded  and  inspired  by  that 
great  Apostle,  who  combined  the  Jewish  soul  with  the 
culture  of  tlie  Greek,  the  world-citizenship  of  the  Roman, 
and  the  undying  devotion  of  the  chief  of  sinners  saved  by 
grace.  No  other  men  could  have  been  found  at  all  equal 
to  these  two  in  their  fitness  for  reaching  and  influencing 
the  Greek  world  by  the  Gospel. 

Such  a  nature,  residence,  culture,  companionship,  joined 
with  inspiration,  fitted  Luke  to  trace  the  life  of  Jesus 
"  in  its  wide  comprehensiveness,  as  the  Gospel  of  the 
nations,  full  of  mercy  and  hope,  assured  to  a  whole  world 
by  the  love  of  a  suffering  Saviour."  ^  Matthew,  Mark, 
John,  could  not  have  prepared  a  Gospel  suited  to  the 
wants  of  the  Greek  nature,  for  that  nature  was  not  in 
them  ;  the  Holy  Ghost  chose  and  prepared  Luke  in  con- 
junction with  Paul  for  that  special  work. 


CHAPTER   11. 

CEITICAL  VIEW  OF  THE    GREEK  ADAPTATION   OF  THE 
THIRD   GOSPEL. 

The  complete  adaptation  of  the  third  Gospel  to  the 
needs  of  the  Greek  world  of  the  apostolic  age  will  be 
made  clear  by  a  careful  examination  of  the  Gospel  itself 
in  the  light  of  its  origin,  design,  and  authorship,  as  thus 
historically  ascertained. 

SECTION  I. 

THE  GREEK  ADAPTATION  IN  THE  GENERAL  PLAN  OF 
THE  THIRD  GOSPEL. 

The  suitableness  to  the  Greek  is  to  be  seen  in  the  gen- 
eral plan  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Luke.     It  may  be 

1  See  Westcott,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Gospels,  ch.  iv.  p.  241. 


228        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

conveniently  divided  into  three  principal  parts,  —  pre- 
senting the  successive  stages  of  the  work  of  Jesus  as  the 
divine  man  for  the  redemption  of  all  mankind,  —  with 
an  appropriate  introduction  and  conclusion. 

In  these  divisions  the  character  and  career  of  Jesus  are 
unfolded  in  their  appropriate  connection  with  the  neces- 
sities of  the  world  as  seen  in  the  representative  world- 
man  of  the  age.  The  historical  personage,  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  is  exhibited  in  the  progress  of  his  human  de- 
velopment and  of  his  work  for  mankind. 

OUTLINE  OF  THE  THIRD  GOSPEL. 
INTRODUCTION. 

The  Advent  of  the  Divine  Man.  The  Evangelist  ex- 
hibits the  origin,  development,  and  preparation  of  Jesus 
as  the  Perfect  Man,  for  his  work  of  Saviour  of  mankind, 
i.  1-iv.  13. 

Prologue.  Statement  of  the  literary  aim.     i.  1-4. 

Section  1.  Jesus,  the  perfect  man,  is  presented  in  his 
origin,  birth,  and  manifestation  to  men.     i.  5-ii.  20. 

A.  In  the  previous  announcement  from  heaven  of  his 
advent,     i.  5-56. 

a.  The  annunciation,  to  Zacharias,  of  the  forerunner, 
the  Baptist.     5-25. 

h.  The  annunciation  to  Mary,  the  visit  to  Elizabeth, 
and  the  song  of  triumph.     26-56. 

B.  In  the  birth  of  his  forerunner,  and  the  poetic 
prophecy  of  Zacharias.     57-80. 

C.  In  his  own  birth,  and  in  his  manifestation,  through 
the  angels,  to  the  shepherds  of  Bethlehem,     ii.  1-20. 

Section  2.  Jesus,  the  perfect  man,  is  presented  in  the 
development  of  his  human  nature  under  law,  divine  and 
human,     ii.  21-52. 

A.  In  the  circumcision  and  manifestation  to  the  true 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  229 

Israel  represented  in  Simeon  and  Anna,  in  the  temple, 
ii.  21-38. 

B.  In  his  visit  to  Jerusalem  at  twelve  years  of  age, 
and  in  his  later  life  of  subjection  and  growth  at  Naza- 
reth,    ii.  39-52. 

Section  3.  Jesus,  the  perfect  man,  is  presented  in  his 
special  preparation  for  his  work  as  Saviour  of  the  world, 
iii.  1-iv.  13. 

A.  In  the  work  of  the  forerunner,  John  the  Baptist, 
till  the  baptism  of  Jesus,     iii.  1-22. 

B.  In  the  descent,  traced  back  to  Adam  and  God.  iii. 
23-38. 

C.  In  the  temptation  by  the  devil  in  the  wilderness, 
iv.  1-13. 

PART  I. 

The  Work  of  the  Divine  Man  for  the  Jewish 
"World.  The  Evangelist  exhibits  Jesus  as  the  fully  de- 
veloped Divine  Man,  in  his  work  of  divine  power  for 
Israel,  and  in  his  laying  the  foundations  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God.     iv.  14-ix.  60. 

Section  1.  He  presents  the  work  of  divine  power  in 
connection  with  the  teaching  in  the  synagogues  of  Gali- 
lee, resulting  in  rejection,     iv.  14-vi.  11. 

A.  In  Nazareth,  where  his  gospel  for  the  poor  and 
suffering  is  rejected  with  violence,     iv.  14-30. 

B.  In  Capernaum  and  its  neighborhood,  where  his 
works  of  power  include  the  raising  of  the  dead,  the  par- 
don of  sin,  and  lordship  over  all  the  natural  and  spiritual 
world,  —  compelling  the  acknowledgment  of  his  divinity, 
but  leading  the  Jews  to  rage  and  plotting,     iv.  31- vi.  11. 

Section  2.  He  presents,  in  connection  with  the  work  of 
divine  power  and  mercy,  the  teachings  of  Jesus  concern- 
ing the  constitution  and  development  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.     vi.  12-ix.  50. 


230  LUKE,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   GREEK. 

A.  The  kingdom  of  God  and  its  constitution,  vi.  12— 
viii.  3. 

a.  Originating  in  communion  with  heaven,  by  the  call 
of  the  Twelve,  and  the  proclamation  of  its  constitution  in 
the  Sermon  on  the  Plain,     vi.  12-49. 

h.  Based  on  the  faith  of  man  (healing  of  the  centu- 
rion's servant),  and  the  compassion  of  Christ  (raising  of 
the  widow's  son),     vii.  1—15. 

c.  Embracing  all  classes :  the  people  at  large ;  the 
Baptist  and  publicans  and  sinners,  but  not  the  Jewish  re- 
jecters of  the  forerunner ;  the  penitent  sinner  (the 
woman),  but  not  the  proud  Pharisee  ;  the  ministering 
women,     vii.  16-viii.  3. 

B.  The  development  of  the  kingdom,     viii.  4-56. 

a.  From  the  seed  of  the  truth  (the  sower),     viii.  4-18. 

h.  Through  obedience  to  the  word  of  God  (the  coming 
of  the  relatives),     viii.  19-21. 

c.  By  faith  in  the  divine  power  of  Jesus  (the  storm ; 
the  demoniac  and  the  swine  ;  the  daughter  of  Jairus,  and 
the  woman  with  the  issue  of  blood),     viii.  22-56. 

C.  The  pressing  of  the  claims  of  the  kingdom  upon 
the  Galilean  Jews  and  disciples,     ix.  1-50. 

a.  In  the  mission  of  the  Twelve,  and  the  resulting  fame, 
withdrawal,  and  miracles.     1-17. 

h.  In  the  confession  of  Peter,  the  attendant  prediction 
of  death,  and  the  subsequent  transfiguration  and  miracles. 
18-43. 

c.  In  the  second  prediction  of  death,  and  the  rebuke  of 
ambition  and  exclusiveness.     43-50. 

PART   II. 

The  'Work  of  the  Divine  Man  for  the  Gentile 
World.  The  Evangelist  exhibits  Jesus  as  the  Divine 
and  Universal  Man,  in  his  gracious  work  for  the  Gentile 
world,  chiefly  in  heathen  Per^ea  and  on  his  last  journey 
to  Jerusalem,     ix.  51-xviii.  30. 


THE   GENERAL  PLAN.  231 

Section  1.  He  records  the  beginning  of  the  last  jour- 
ney and  the  sending  out  of  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles. 
ix.  51-xi.  13. 

A.  The  gracious  messengers  to  Samaria  and  their  re- 
jection ;  the  terms  of  discipleship  laid  down  ;  and  the 
sending  out  of  the  Seventy  (under  the  law  of  evangelistic 
effort),     ix.  51-x.  24. 

B.  Mankind  but  one  family  (the  good  Samaritan)  ; 
but  one  thing  needful  (Mary  and  Martha)  ;  but  one  way 
of  securing  it,  by  prayer  for  the  Holy  Spirit  (the  disciples 
instructed),     x.  25-xi.  13. 

Section  2.  He  records  the  portrayal,  judgment,  and 
condemnation  by  Jesus  of  the  religious  world  of  that  age. 
xi.  14-xiii.  21. 

A.  The  malignant  rejection  of  Jesus  by  the  hypocriti- 
cal Pharisees,  in  contrast  with  the  required  confession 
(the  dumb  demoniac  healed,  and  the  dinner  eaten  with 
unwashed  hands),     xi.  14-xii.  12. 

B.  The  worldliness  and  covetousness  of  the  Jew  in 
contrast  with  the  heavenly  mind  and  the  faithful  steward- 
ship (the  rich  fool),     xii.  13-53. 

C.  The  signs  of  the  impending  judgment  of  this  world 
for  sin  and  formality  (the  barren  fig-tree),  in  contrast 
with  the  mercy  of  the  kingdom  of  God  (healing  of  woman 
with  infirmity  on  the  Sabbath),  and  its  expansive  and 
transforming  growth  (the  mustard-seed  and  the  leaven), 
xii.  54-xiii.  21. 

Section  3.  He  records  the  teachings  concerning  the 
number  of  the  saved,  —  showing  that  the  grace  of  salva- 
tion is  universal  to  sinners,     xiii.  22-xv.  32. 

A.  The  question,  on  the  journey,  and  the  answer,  pre- 
senting the  urgency  of  salvation  (the  shut  door),  and  the 
bringing  in  of  the  Gentile  and  the  apostasy  of  the  Jews 
(the  man  with  the  dropsy,  and  the  great  supper),  xiii. 
22-xiv.  24. 


232       LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

B.  The  strict  terms  of  salvation  and  the  danger  of 
losing  it  (self-renunciation  and  cross-bearing),  in  contrast 
with  the  free  offer  to  all  sinners  and  the  desire  of  the  Son 
(the  shepherd  and  the  lost  sheep),  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
church  (the  woman),  and  the  Father  (the  father  of  the 
prodigal),  for  their  salvation,     xiv.  25-xv.  32. 

Section  4.  He  records  the  teachings  concerning  the 
life  in  the  kingdom  of  God.     xvi.  1-xviii.  30. 

A.  It  is  a  life  of  faithful  stewardship  in  the  things  of 
this  world,  ending  in  the  rewards  of  the  heavenly  world 
(the  unjust  steward  and  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus), 
xvi.  1-31. 

B.  It  is  a  life  of  forgiveness  (the  law  of  offenses),  hu- 
mility (the  master  and  servant),  faith  and  gratitude  (the 
Samaritan  leper),  and  of  waiting  for  the  spiritual  coming 
of  "the  Son  of  Man  "  in  his  glory,     xvii.  1-37. 

C.  It  is  a  life  of  prayer,  believing  and  humble  (the 
unjust  judge,  and  the  Pharisee  and  Publican),  of  child- 
like resting  in  God,  and  of  obedience  and  self-denial  (the 
rich  young  ruler),  ending  in  present  joy  and  everlasting 
salvation,     xviii.  1-30. 

PART  III. 

The  Sacrifice  of  the  Divine  Man  for  all  Mankind. 
The  Evangelist  exhibits  Jesus,  as  the  Divine  Man,  vol- 
untarily suffering  and  dying  for  all  the  lost  world,  xviii. 
31-xxiii.  49. 

Section  1.  He  presents  the  preparation  for  the  sacri- 
fice,    xviii.  31-xxii.  38. 

A.  In  the  prediction  of  his  death,  the  approach  to 
Jerusalem,  and  the  public  entry  as  Messiah,  xviii.  31- 
xix.  46. 

B.  In  teaching  daily  in  the  temple,  and  there  vindicat- 
ing his  authority  as  Messiah  before  the  plotting  rulers 
and  the  rejoicing  people,     xix.  47-xxi.  4. 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  233 

C.  In  predicting  to  his  disciples  his  second  coming, 
with  the  rejection  of  the  Jews  and  the  bringing  in  of  the 
Gentiles,     xxi.  5—36. 

D.  In  the  progress  of  the  conspiracy,  in  connection 
with  the  teaching  in  the  temple  and  the  keeping  of  the 
Passover,     xxi.  37-xxii.  38. 

Section  2.  He  presents  Jesus,  the  compassionate  di- 
vine man,  voluntarily  yielding  himself  up  to  his  enemies 
and  to  the  sacrificial  death  on  the  cross,  xxii.  39-xxiii. 
49. 

A.  In  the  agony,  betrayal,  arrest,  trial,  unjust  sen- 
tence, and  delivery  to  his  enemies  to  be  crucified,  xxii. 
39-xxiii.  25. 

B.  In  the  crucifixion,  —  with  the  lamentations  of  the 
people,  the  compassionate  praj^er  for  the  scoffing  mur- 
derers, the  saving  of  the  dying  thief,  the  supernatural 
darkness  and  rending  of  the  veil  of  the  temple,  and  the 
verdict  of  innocence  by  the  centurion  and  the  people, 
xxiii.  26-49. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  Divine  Man,  Saviour  of  all  Nations.  The 
Evangelist  exhibits  Jesus  in  his  triumph  over  death,  as 
the  Saviour  of  all  nations,     xxiii.  50-xxiv.  53. 

Section  1.  In  his  burial  by  a  just  man,  and  in  his  rest 
in  the  grave  of  humanity,     xxiii.  50-56. 

Section  2.  In  his  resurrection,  in  fulfillment  of  his  own 
prediction  concerning  himself  as  the  Son  of  man.  xxiv. 
1-12. 

Section  3.  In  his  manifestation  to  his  disciples,  in 
teaching  that  his  death  is  part  of  the  one  great  plan  of 
God,  in  sending  them  to  preach  repentance  and  remis- 
sion of  sins  in  his  name  among  all  nations  beginning  at 
Jerusalem,  and  in  his  parting  blessing  and  ascension, 
xxiv.  13-53. 


234       LUKE.  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 


SECTION  n. 

THE  GREEK    ADAPTATION    IN    THE    CENTRAIi    IDEA  OF 
THE   THIRD    GOSPEL. 

With  the  aid  of  the  outline,  which  clearly  bears  the 
marks  of  the  Greek  aim,  it  may  now  be  shown  how  the 
Gospel  according  to  Luke,  in  its  organic  idea  and  general 
tenor,  falls  in  with  the  testimony  of  history  that  it  was 
produced  and  published  especially  for  Greek  readers. 

I.   The   Central  Idea. 

It  is  a  familiar  fact  in  literature,  that  unity  of  plan 
and  aim  does  not  necessarily  preclude  the  existence  of  a 
twofold  idea  in  any  production,  an  external  and  an  in- 
ternal, provided  one  be  subordinate  to  the  other.  Hence 
some  have  viewed  the  Julius  Caesar  of  Shakespeare  as  a 
historical  tragedy,  others  as  a  character  tragedy.  It  is 
both  at  once,  —  for  the  poet  evidently  intended  to  give  a 
view  of  the  external  movement  of  events  in  one  of  the 
greatest  crises  in  all  history,  the  one  that  hastened  the 
preparation  of  the  Roman  world  for  the  Advent  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  to  delineate  the  internal  but  deadly  strug- 
gle of  the  ideas  of  the  old  Rome  and  the  new,  of  the  Re- 
.  public  and  the  Empire,  as  embodied  in  the  noble  and 
patriotic  but  weak  Brutus  and  the  mighty  but  ambitious 
Caesar.  The  true  unity  is  found  in  the  subordination  of 
the  external  to  the  internal. 

The  Gospel  according  to  Luke  may  be  regarded  as 
having  such  a  twofold  idea,  and  as  maintaining  real 
unity  in  a  similar  way. 

The  External.  The  central  idea  of  the  third  Gospel, 
in  its  outward  aspect,  is  found  in  the  opening  verses  of 
the  first  chapter.  It  is  the  presentation  of  an  accurate 
history  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  This  may  be  called  the 
literary  aim  of  Luke. 


THE   CENTRAL   IDEA.  235 

As  clearly  as  we  recognize  in  the  first  Gospel  a  per- 
petual comparing  of  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  with  the 
prophecies  concerning  the  Messiah,  for  the  Jew;  and  in 
the  second  Gospel,  the  exhibition  of  the  mighty  deeds  of 
the  conqueror  of  the  world  in  compressed,  graphic,  and 
living  form,  for  the  Roman  ;  so  clearly  do  we  recognize 
in  the  third  Gospel  the  presence  of  the  historian,  pre- 
paring for  the  accurate  and  philosophic  Greek.  The  au- 
thor states  at  once  the  two  main  objects  of  the  histori- 
cal writer :  to  draw  up  a  continuous  narrative,  derived 
from  a  careful  scrutinizing  of  the  testimonies  of  eye-wit- 
nesses and  ministers  of  the  word  ;  and  to  commit  it  to 
writing  in  chronological  order  (Luke  i.  1-4). 

The  historical  structure  is  found  in  Luke,  with  the 
greatest  definiteness  in  dates  and  events,  the  clearest  and 
most  accurate  knowledge  of  Jewish  and  Gentile  contem- 
poraneous history,  and  with  the  widest  and  firmest  grasp 
of  the  workings  of  the  human  soul  and  of  the  condition 
and  wants  of  mankind.  These  features  may  readily  be 
illustrated  and  verified  from  the  Gospel  itself. 

The  third  Gospel  manifestly  takes  the  form  of  com- 
plete historical  narrative.  It  does  not,  like  that  of  Mat- 
thew, "  content  itself  with  a  short  notice  of  our  Lord's 
conception  and  birth.  It  carries  events  farther  back  in 
their  sublime  continuity ;  it  leads  us  to  the  first  begin- 
nings, and,  as  it  were,  to  the  very  dawn  of  our  Lord's 
coming  in  the  flesh ;  it  commences  with  various  details 
relating  to  the  annunciation,  the  conception,  and  the 
birth,  not  only  of  our  Lord  himself,  but  also  of  his  fore- 
runner, the  Baptist  (Luke  i.).  It  opens  with  an  expres- 
sion (i.  5)  which  subsequently  occurs  above  sixty  times 
in  the  two  compositions  of  St.  Luke  ;  there  was,  or  it 
happened  that.''  ^     The  use  of  this  expression  is  signifi- 

1  See  Da  Costa,  The  Four  Witnesses,  p.  150. 


236        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

cant  of  the  historic  point  of  view  maintained  by  the 
Evangelist  throughout. 

The  attention  to  dates,  so  requisite  to  history,  is  found 
everywhere  in  Luke.  From  the  very  opening  he  care- 
fully determines  the  dates  of  the  great  events  which  he 
narrates.  It  was  in  the  days  of  Herod,  the  king  of 
Judi^a,  that  a  certain  priest  named  Zacharias,  of  the 
course  of  Abia,  while  officiating  in  the  temple  in  the 
order  of  his  course,  received  from  the  angel  Gabriel  pre- 
announcement  of  the  birth  of  John  Baptist  (i.  6-20). 
It  was  in  the  sixth  month  after  that  the  angel  Gabriel 
was  sent  to  Nazareth  to  make  to  Mary  the  pre-announce- 
ment  of  the  birth  of  Messiah  (i.  26).  The  date  of  the 
entrance  of  the  Baptist  upon  his  public  ministry  is  given 
with  even  greater  accuracy  :  "  Now  in  the  fifteenth  year 
of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  Pontius  Pilate  being  gov- 
ernor of  Judaea,  and  Herod  being  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  and 
his  brother  Philip  tetrarch  of  Ituraea  and  of  the  region  of 
Trachonitis,  and  Lysanias  the  tetrarch  of  Abilene,  Annas 
and  Caiaphas  being  the  high  priests,  the  word  of  God 
came  unto  John  the  son  of  Zacharias  in  the  wilder- 
ness" (iii.  1,  2).  With  respect  to  our  Lord  himself,  it  is 
also  Luke  alone  who  speaks  of  his  being  circumcised  on 
the  eighth  day  (ii.  21)  ;  of  his  being  brought  into  the 
temple  after  the  days  of  the  purification  were  fulfilled 
(ii.  22,  and  following  verses)  ;  of  Jesus,  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years^  as  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors  in  the 
temple  (ii.  42,  etc.).  He  is  also  the  only  Evangelist 
that  informs  us  of  Jesus'  being  of  the  age  of  thirty  years 
when  he  received  the  rite  of  baptism  at  the  hands  of 
John,  and  from  the  Holy  Spirit  from  heaven  (iii.  23).^ 

No  other  Evangelist  enters  so  deeply  into  the  Jewish 
histor}^  of  those  times.  He  alone,  for  example,  records 
our  Lord's  allusion  to  the  massacre  of  the  Galileans  by 

1  See  The  Four  Witnesses,  p.  152. 


THE   CENTRAL   IDEA.  237 

Pontius  Pilate  at  one  of  the  festivals,  and  to  the  fall  of 
the  tower  of  Siloam  which  caused  the  death  of  eighteen 
persons  (xiii.  1-4).  Luke,  in  addition  to  what  the  other 
Evangelists  relate  of  the  connection  of  Herod  Antipas 
with  John  the  Baptist,  connects  him  with  Jesus  himself. 
He  alone  tells  us  that  there  came  certain  of  the  Pharisees 
and  said  to  him :  "  Get  thee  out,  and  depart  hence,  for 
Herod  will  kill  thee  ;  "  and  that  Jesus  answered  them  : 
"  Go  ye,  and  tell  that  fox.  Behold  I  cast  out  devils,  and 
I  do  cures  to-day  and  to-morrow,  and  the  third  day  I 
shall  be  perfected  "  (xiii.  31,  32).  He  alone  records  the 
fact  that  Jesus,  when  on  trial,  was  sent  to  that  same 
Herod,  and  that  the  murderer  of  the  Baptist  became  a 
reviler  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  at  the  same  time  one  of 
the  witnesses  of  his  innocence  (xxiii.  5-12  ;  Acts  iv. 
27).  It  is  from  Luke,  also,  that  we  learn  that  among 
the  godly  women  who  ministered  to  the  wants  of  Jesus 
with  their  substance,  "  there  was  Joanna,  the  wife  of 
Chuza,  Herod's  steward"  (viii.  3). 

Probably  no  books  of  antiquity  contain  so  many,  varied, 
and  wide-reaching  references  to  the  institutions,  customs, 
geography,  and  history  of  their  times,  as  do  the  two 
books  written  by  Luke.  They  were  written  at  a  time 
when  it  would  have  been  the  more  difficult  for  any  one 
but  a  contemporary  to  maintain  perfect  accuracy  and 
fidelity  to  the  truth,  along  with  such  detail  and  definite- 
ness  of  statement  and  allusion,  in  proportion  as  the 
period  was  marvelously  "  fertile  in  great  events,  in 
changes  in  governments  and  in  the  boundaries  and 
names  of  countries  and  peoples."  And  yet  the  result 
of  the  most  searching  scrutiny  of  these  writings,  "  sifted 
fact  by  fact,  detail  by  detail,  expression  by  expression,  in 
the  light  of  all  that  the  most  civilized  and  the  most 
enlightened  antiquity  directly  witnesses  or  incidentally 
suggests  to  our  researches,"  has. vindicated  for  them  such 


238        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

a  claim  to  the  faith  of  the  world  as  no  secular  histories 
of  that  or  the  succeeding  ages  can  pretend  to  urge  for 
themselves,  —  so  that  Luke  is  justly  and  preeminently 
called  the  historian. 

The  history  is  still  better  adapted,  by  the  selection  of 
the  material,  to  suit  the  aesthetic  Greek.  It  is  not  made 
up  of  dry,  dead  facts.  Poetry  and  song  flash  out  from  its 
pages.  The  profound  wisdom  of  the  parable  and  the 
rapt  inspiration  of  eloquent  discourse  combine  to  chain 
the  attention.  The  beauty  of  this  world  in  which  the 
Greek  delighted,  and  the  glories  of  the  heavenly  world  of 
which  he  had  scarcely  dreamed,  unite  to  charm  the  soul. 
The  revelations  of  new  and  sublime  conceptions  of  the 
universe,  of  human  duty  and  destiny,  and  of  the  Deity, 
expand  and  exhaust  the  powers  of  the  most  capacious 
imagination.  In  short,  the  Gospel  combined  in  itself 
everything  that  could  attract  and  absorb  the  true  Greek 
soul. 

The  Internal.  The  central  idea  of  the  third  Gospel, 
in  its  internal  aspect,  appears  throughout.  It  is  this : 
Jesus  is  the  perfect,  divine  man,  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

Luke  takes  the  point  of  view  of  the  Greek  and  main- 
tains it  to  the  end.  The  perfect  manhood  of  Jesus  with 
the  consequent  mercy  and  universality  of  his  covenant, 
rather  than  the  temporal  relations  or  the  eternal  basis 
of  Christianity,  furnishes  his  central  subject.  "  In  the 
other  Gospels  we  find  our  King,  our  Lord,  our  God  ;  but 
in  St.  Luke  we  see  the  image  of  our  great  High  Priest, 
made  perfect  through  suffering,  tempted  in  all  points  as 
we  are,  but  without  sin, — so  that  each  trait  of  human 
feeling  and  natural  love  helps  us  to  complete  the  outline 
and  confirms  its  truthfulness."  ^ 

The  Gospel  seizes  upon  the  humanity  of  Jesus  as  the 
idea  most  attractive  to  the  mind  of    the  Greek.     Jesus 

1  Westcott,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Gospels,  p.  371. 


THE   CENTRAL   IDEA.  239 

is  preeminently  man,  the  man.  He  is  neither  Roman, 
Greek,  nor  Jew.  He  rises  above  the  conditions  of  time 
and  place.  What  the  Greek  blindly  strove  to  reach, 
what  Paul  in  some  measure  approximated,  that  Jesus 
illustrated  in  its  perfection, — the  universal  man,  the 
pattern  and  brother  of  all  the  race.  This  man^  Luke  ex- 
hibits in  the  various  stages  of  his  human  development ;  in 
his  intellectual  grasp  of  things  earthly  and  heavenly ;  in 
his  marvelous  sympathy  with  all  of  human  kind  ;  in 
his  matchless  work  as  the  one  who  was  to  give  light 
to  them  that  sit  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death ; 
in  his  consummate  genius,  his  lofty  enthusiasm,  his  divine 
inspiration. 

Especially  does  the  third  Gospel  present  the  universal 
grace  of  God.  A  very  large  portion  of  it  is  taken  up 
with  what  is  now  quite  generally  acknowledged  to  be 
Christ's  ministry  in  Per'aea,  or  across  Jordan,  and  on  his 
last  journey  to  Jerusalem  (ix.  51-xviii.  30),  — a  ministry 
to  a  Gentile  race,  and  therefore  peculiarly  suited  to  the 
Greek  and  to  all  the  world  represented  by  him.  The 
grace  of  God  for  all  men,  foreshadowed  in  the  song  of  the 
angels  of  the  annunciation  (ii.  10-14),  is  made  luminous 
in  the  teachings,  especially  in  the  parables,  of  this  heart 
of  the  third  Gospel. 

At  the  same  time,  as  will  subsequently  appear  more 
fully,  the  Evangelist  intelligently  aims  to  correct  the 
false  Greek  notions.  He  shows  him  man  as  he  really 
is.  He  reveals  his  true  position  and  destiny.  By  con- 
trast with  the  truth  he  exhibits  the  shallowness  and 
absurdity  of  the  Greek  theogony  and  theology.  He  un- 
veils the  invisible  and  future  worlds  to  him.  He  shows 
him  God  as  he  really  is,  not  in  relentless  Fate,  but  in 
the  person  of  Jesus,  the  God-man,  as  the  infinitely  com- 
passionate and  gracious  One. 

The  external  form  and  historical  aim  of  the  Gospel, 


240  LUKE,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   GREEK. 

SO  far  from  being  out  of  harmony  with  this  its  internal 
idea,  fm-nish  rather  the  perfect  vehicle  for  its  presenta- 
tion. The  Evangelist  prepares  for  the  Greek  —  as  he  an- 
nounces his  purpose  to  do  —  an  accurate  and  systematic 
exhibition  of  the  facts  of  the  career  of  Jesus;  but  this 
is  only  the  more  perfect  frame-work  for  the  exquisite 
portraiture  of  the  perfect  man,  who  is  himself  the  pledge 
of  the  blessedness  of  faith  and  the  exaltation  of  the  lowly, 
and  who  appears  in  the  world  to  give  light  to  them  that 
sit  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death. 

II.    The  General  Drift, 

The  influence  of  this  central  Greek  idea,  in  its  two- 
fold form,  is  made  apparent  by  a  general  movement  and 
drift  peculiar  to  the  third  GospeL 

No  one  can  mistake  the  presence  and  moulding  power 
of  the  aesthetic  and  philosophic  spirit,  in  the  choice  of 
materials  and  in  their  embodiment  in  literary  form.  The 
entire  plan,  the  parts,  even  the  sentences  and  the  words 
show  it.  This  will  appear  in  every  phase  of  the  present 
investigation. 

The  human  and  universal  aim  will  also  be  everywhere 
manifest  to  the  careful  reader.  It  is  brought  out  clearly 
in  the  general  drift  of  the  Gospel,  as  seen  by  the  help  of 
the  outline  view. 

In  the  Introduction,  after  the  Evangelist  has  stated 
the  literary  aim  of  his  work,  he  presents  Jesus  the  per- 
fect man,  first,  in  his  origin,  birth,  and  manifestation  to 
men  ;  secondl}^,  in  the  development  of  his  human  nature 
under  law,  human  and  divine  ;  and,  thirdly,  in  his  special 
preparation  for  the  work  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
This  is  the  true  unfolding  of  the  manhood  of  Jesus  in  its 
relations  to  all  mankind,  and  is  just  the  view  adapted  to 
the  Greek  mind. 

In  Part  First,  the  Evangelist  proceeds  to  exhibit  that 


THE   CENTRAL   IDEA.  241 

first  work  of  Jesus,  as  the  fully  developed  divine  man,  in 
which  the  world  at  large  was  interested,  —  the  work  of 
divine  power  for  Israel,  in  laying  the  foundations  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  This  work  is  illustrated,  in  its  be- 
ginnings, by  the  manifestation  of  Christ's  power  and  wis- 
dom in  Nazareth,  his  native  city,  where  his  Gospel  for 
the  poor  and  suffering  is  rejected  with  violence ;  and 
in  Capernaum  and  its  neighborhood,  where  he  raises  tho 
dead,  pardons  sin,  and  exercises  lordship  over  all  the 
natural  and  spiritual  world,  thereby  compelling  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  divinity,  but  driving  the  Jews  to 
rage  and  conspiracy.  In  its  later  stage,  it  is  illustrated 
b}^  continued  works  of  divine  power  and  merc}^,  connected 
with  the  teachings  of  Jesus  concerning  the  constitution 
and  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  That  king- 
dom, originating  in  communion  with  heaven,  constituted 
by  the  call  of  the  Twelve,  based  on  the  faith  of  man 
and  the  compassion  of  Christ,  and  embracing  all  classes, 
is  to  be  developed  from  the  seed  of  the  truth,  and  by 
faith  in  the  divine  power  of  Jesus ;  and  the  pressing  of 
its  claims  upon  the  Galilean  Jews  and  disciples,  together 
with  the  results,  is  delineated. 

In  Part  Second,  the  Evangelist  presents  the  second  of 
the  stages  in  Christ's  public  work  in  which  all  the  world 
is  interested,  —  the  gracious  work  of  the  divine  and  uni- 
versal man,  chiefly  in  heathen  Persea  and  on  his  last 
journey  to  Jerusalem,  for  the  Gentile  world.  In  the 
course  of  this  presentation  he  records,  first,  the  beginning 
of  the  last  journey,  and  the  sending  out  of  the  Gospel  by 
messengers  to  the  Samaritans,  and  by  the  Seventy  to  the 
Gentiles  at  large  ;  and  the  teaching  in  the  parable  of  the 
good  Samaritan  that  there  is  but  one  family  of  mankind. 
He  gives,  secondly,  the  portrayal  and  judgment,  by  Jesus, 
of  the  religious  world  of  that  age,  dwelling  upon  the 
malignity  and  hypocrisy,  the  worldliness  and  covetous- 

16 


242        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

iiess,  of  the  Jew,  in  contrast  witli  the  true  spirit  of  the 
children  of  God,  and  upon  the  signs  of  impending  de- 
struction. He  unfolds,  thirdly,  the  wonderful  teachings 
of  Jesus  which  show  that  the  grace  of  salvation  is  offered 
to  sinners  universally.  He  depicts,  fourthly,  from  the 
teachings  of  Jesus,  the  life  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  in  the 
fidelity  of  its  stewardship,  in  the  breadth  of  its  charity, 
and  in  its  pervading  spirit  of  pray  erf  ulness,  faith,  and  de- 
votion. These  are  the  great  central  facts  and  truths  of 
the  public  work  of  Christ  that  were  best  fitted  to  com- 
mend him  to  the  Greek  race. 

In  Part  Third,  the  Evangelist  unfolds  the  voluntary 
suffering  and  death  of  Jesus  the  divine  man  for  all  the 
lost  world,  —  showing  how  everything  is  colored  by  the 
human  perfection  and  compassionate  tenderness,  and  by 
the  divine  compassion  and  saving  power,  exhibited  to  all 
classes  of  men. 

The  Conclusion  sets  forth  the  experience  of  the  divine 
man  in  his  triumph  over  death,  and  as  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  showing  the  place  of  his  career  in  the  plan  of  God 
and  sending  out  his  followers  with  salvation  to  all  na- 
tions. 

This  was  just  what  was  needed  to  commend  Jesus  as  a 
Saviour  to  the  man  of  Greek  soul.  It  was  at  the  same 
time  a  true  view  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  whose 
many-sided  character  embraced  not  only  the  Messiah,  the 
ideal  Jew,  and  the  almighty  worker  and  victor,  the  ideal 
Roman,  but  also  the  divine  and  universal  man,  the  ideal 
Greek.  This  Jesus,  the  inheritor  of  all  the  real  perfec- 
tion and  manhood,  of  all  the  natural  reason  and  culture 
found  in  the  Greek  nature,  and  adding  to  all  these  a  di- 
vine perfection  and  manhood  and  a  supernatural  reason 
and  beauty,  is  the  Jesus  represented  by  Luke. 


OMISSIONS  AND   ADDITIONS.  243 

SECTION  m. 

THE    GKEEK  ADAPTATION    IN   THE   OMISSIONS   AND   AD- 
DITIONS  OF   THE   THIRD   GOSPEL. 

I.   The  Omissions  of  the  Third  Gospel, 

It  will  appear  in  the  light  of  a  careful  examination, 
that  Luke  omits  so  much  of  the  facts  and  teachings  given 
by  the  other  Evangelists  as  does  not  suit  his  special  aim 
of  commending  Jesus  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world  to  the 
Greek  mind. 

The  distinctively  Jewish,  Roman,  and  Christian  por- 
tions of  the  general  mass  of  Gospel  material  are  passed 
over  as  being  of  comparatively  little  value  for  his  pur- 
poses. The  comparison  of  the  historic  Jesus  with  the 
prophetic  Messiah,  which  was  the  one  thing  for  the  Jew 
in  whom  the  hope  of  the  coming  deliverer  foretold  in  the 
prophets  had  been  growing  in  power  and  definiteness  for 
ages,  could  have  only  a  minor  and  subordinate  interest 
for  the  man  of  reason  who  had  scarcely  heard  of  prophecy. 
The  picture  of  the  wonderful  and  universal  conflict  and 
conquest  of  the  Son  of  God,  which  was  just  the  thing  to 
command  the  attention  of  the  Roman,  in  whom  the  wild- 
est dream  of  universal  dominion  had  been  realizing  itself 
for  ages,  could  have  little  weight  with  the  man  of  reason 
whose  devotion  to  philosophy  and  art,  which  had  enabled 
him  to  shape  the  thought  and  culture  of  the  world,  had 
made  him  despise  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  outward 
sovereignty.  The  supernatural  and  divine,  in  their 
higher  spiritual  aspects,  which  were  just  what  the  Chris- 
tian, the  man  regenerated,  transformed,  and  lifted  into 
sympathy  with  heaven,  delighted  in,  were  as  yet  almost 
meaningless  to  the  man  who  had  dwelt  for  ages  only  in 
the  natural  and  human,  and  who  was  to  be  transformed 
from  the  godless  man  into  the  godly. 


244       LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

From  Matthew.  Luke  omits  the  distinctively  Jewish 
narratives  and  teachings  given  in  the  first  Gospel. 

This  is  illustrated  by  a  comparative  view  of  the  intro- 
ductions to  the  first  and  third  Gospels.  To  the  careless 
reader  they  might  seem  to  cover  the  same  ground  and  to 
embrace  the  same  material.  The  truth  is,  however,  that 
so  far  is  this  from  being  the  case,  that,  while  the  first 
Gospel  presents  the  origin  and  preparation  of  the  Mes- 
siah, the  third  gives  the  human  origin  and  development 
of  the  perfect  man.  But  what  is  more  remarkable  is, 
that  the  material  used  by  the  two  is  almost  totally  differ- 
ent, since  Luke  omits  the  most  of  what  Matthew  gives. 
By  following  the  narratives  it  will  be  seen  that  he  passes 
over  the  royal  lineage  by  Solomon  and  Joseph ;  the  pro- 
phetic divine  origin  ;  the  coming  of  the  Magi ;  the  mas- 
sacre of  the,  innocents  ;  the  flight  into  Egypt  and  the  re- 
turn to  Nazareth  ;  w^hile  he  retains  the  mission  of  the 
Baptist  and  the  temptation.  The  portions  omitted  have 
exclusive  reference  to  prophecy  and  to  Jewish  wants. 

Passing  on  to  the  public  ministry  of  Jesus,  it  will  be 
observed '  that  Luke  does  not  record  the  opening  of  the 
ministry  in  Galilee  (Matt,  iv.),  in  which  prophecy  is 
fulfilled  and  all  Syria  roused  ;  it  was  a  Gospel  for  the 
Jew  only,  and  therefore  of  subordinate  interest  to  the 
Greek.  So  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matt,  v.-vii.) 
finds  no  place  in  the  third  Gospel  ;  it  was  on  its  very 
face  a  proclamation  of  the  constitution  and  character  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  for  the  Jewish  hearers.  The 
portion  of  Luke's  Gospel  that  has  sometimes  been  con- 
founded with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Luke  vi.  17- 
49)  is  entirely  without  the  marked  Jewish  references 
found  in  that  production  as  given  by  Matthew. 

Still  more  noteworthy  is  the  absence  from  the  third 
Gospel  of  all  those  discourses  recorded  by  Matthew, 
which   are   especially   condemnatory  of   the   Jews,  and 


OMISSIONS   AND  ADDITIONS.  245 

"which  in  so  many  instances  exalt  the  Gentiles  above  the 
Jews.  These  were  absolutely  essential  in  a  Gospel  de- 
signed to  open  the  eyes  of  the  descendants  of  Abraham 
and  lead  them  to  a  deep  sense  of  their  need,  and  to  a 
cordial  spiritual  reception  of  God's  Messiah.  But  they 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  a  source  of  evil  to  the  Gen- 
tile readers  of  Luke,  and  that  for  a  twofold  reason, — 
that  they  did  not  at  all  reveal  their  own  besetting  sins, 
and  that  the  preaching  against  other  men's  sins  would 
have  led  —  as  it  always  leads  —  to  spiritual  pride  rather 
than  spiritual  profit.  So  Luke  passes  over  the  upbraid- 
ing of  the  cities  of  Galilee  (Matt.  xi.  20-30)  which 
had  been  the  centre  of  Christ's  mighty  works,  together 
with  the  comparison  with  the  Gentile  cities  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon  and  Sodom,  and  the  gracious  invitation  to  salva- 
tion. He  likewise  passes  over  the  discourses  connected 
with  the  Pharisees'  charge  against  Jesus  of  collusion  with 
Beelzebub  in  casting  out  demons,  and  with  the  demand 
of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  for  a  sign  (Matt.  xii.  22- 
45)  ;  and  the  discourse  on  the  treatment  of  the  little 
ones  and  the  law  of  forgiveness  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
(Matt,  xviii.  10-35),  aimed  at  Jewish  implacability 
and  Jewish  longing  for  a  temporal  kingdom.  He  gives 
barely  a  sentence  (Luke  xx.  45-47)  of  that  most  terrible 
discourse  ever  uttered  in  the  ears  of  men,  which  Matthew 
(xxiii.  1-39)  records  fully,  —  the  final  woes  pronounced 
upon  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  and  upon  Jerusalem  it- 
self. 

Turning  from  discourses  to  parables,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  third  Evangelist  deals  in  like  manner  with  the 
parables  aimed  directly  at  the  Jew.  Of  the  parables  of 
the  kingdom  (Matt,  xiii.),  three  out  of  the  seven  are 
retained, — the  sower  (Luke  viii.  4-15)  as  illustrating 
productiveness  in  the  kingdom ;  and  the  mustard-seed 
and  the  leaven  (xiii.  18-21),  as  portraying  the  outward 


246       LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

growth  and  the  inward  change  of  the  kingdom ;  while 
four  are  left  out,  —  the  tares  and  the  drag-net,  as  illus- 
trating the  mixed  condition  of  things  in  the  Jewish 
world  and  the  Church ;  and  the  hid  treasure  and  pearl  of 
great  price,  as  setting  forth  the  search  and  sacrifice  re- 
quired of  Messiah  in  order  to  secure  the  true  kingdom, 
Avhich  the  apostate  Jews  vainly  supposed  themselves  to 
constitute.  Of  the  later  parables  of  Matthew,  Luke 
drops  those  of  the  laborers  (Matt.  xx.  1-16),  of  the 
two  sons  (xxi.  28-32),  and  of  the  marriage  of  the  king's 
son  (xxii.  1-14),  as  presenting  the  exaltation  of  the 
Gentiles  over  the  Jews  in  such  a  light  as  to  develop  the 
pride  and  self-righteousness  of  the  former  rather  than 
conduce  to  their  salvation.  He  also  leaves  out  those 
closing  parables,  of  the  ten  virgins  and  of  the  talents, 
and  the  judgment  scene  (Matt,  xxv.),  which  were  all- 
important  to  the  Jew  who  had  almost  lost  out  of  his 
ideas  of  life  all  true  fidelity  in  watching,  all  sense  of  need 
of  the  inward  grace  of  God,  all  feeling  of  responsibility 
for  well-directed,  productive  effort  to  the  extent  of  his 
powers  for  God,  and  all  sense  of  a  judgment  strictly  in 
accordance  with  human  conduct  toward  humanity  and 
Christ  in  humanity  ;  but  which  might  have  been  of  no 
real  profit  to  the  Gentile,  who  already  overestimated 
works  and  therefore  needed  first  to  learn  the  lessons  of 
prayer  and  faith. 

This  investigation  might  be  extended  to  the  smaller 
and  less  prominent  parts  of  the  first  Gospel  omitted  by 
Luke,  —  such  as  the  healing  of  the  blind  man  (Matt.  ix. 
27-34),  Peter's  confession  (xvi.  17-20),  the  temple  tax 
(xvii.  24-27),  and  others, —  but  the  student  of  the  Script- 
ures can  examine  them  for  himself.  However  extended 
the  examination,  the  same  evidences  of  a  Gentile,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  a  Jewish,  aim  will  be  readily  detected  in 
Luke's  omissions  from  Matthew's  Gospel. 


OMISSIONS   AND   ADDITIONS.  247 

From  Mark.  Luke  omits  the  distinctively  Roman 
features  found  in  the  second  Gospel. 

The  historic  and  philosophic  spirit,  in  which  the  third 
Gospel  was  written,  almost  precluded  the  presence  of 
those  vivid  details  and  scenic  representations  which  are 
the  distinguishing  feature  of  Mark's  production.  The 
absence  of  this  feature  may  be  illustrated  by  comparing 
almost  any  of  the  narratives  common  to  the  two.  This 
peculiarity  of  Mark  has  already  been  brought  out  in  con- 
nection with  the  two  mites  of  the  poor  widow  (p.  196). 
Luke  gives  it  as  a  simple  narrative,  stripped  of  all  the 
picturesque  features :  "  And  he  looked  up,  and  saw  the 
rich  men  casting  their  gifts  into  the  treasury.  And  he 
saw  also  a  certain  poor  widow  casting  in  thither  two 
mites.  And  he  said.  Of  a  truth  I  sa}^  unto  you,  that  this 
poor  widow  hath  cast  in  more  than  they  all ;  for  all  these 
have  of  their  abundance  cast  in  unto  the  offerings  of  God  ; 
but  she  of  her  penury  hath  cast  in  all  the  living  that  she 
had  "  (xxi.  1-4).  It  will  be  observed  at  once,  that  Luke, 
as  a  historian,  "  has  recorded  the  matter  more  concisely, 
rather  avoiding  anything  like  scenic  effect ;  but  his  nar- 
rative compensates  for  this  by  the  touching  expression, 
applied  from  the  nature  of  its  contents  to  the  treasur^^ : 
the  offerings  of  God.'''' 

A  cursory  examination  will  make  it  clear  that  Luke's 
omission  of  the  teachings  peculiar  to  Mark  is  in  harmony 
with  his  Greek  aim.  The  parable  of  the  seed-corn  (Mark 
iv.  26-34),  the  healing  of  the  blind  man  of  Bethsaida 
(viii.  22-26)  and  of  the  deaf  man  of  Decapolis  (vii.  31- 
37),  and  the  form  of  the  last  commission  (xvi.  15-18), 
all  are  marked,  as  has  already  been  seen,  by  those  striking 
features  that  suited  them  to  the  man  of  action  and  of  uni- 
versal dominion. 

From  John.  No  less  striking  is  Luke's  omission  of  the 
distinctively  spiritual  and  Christian  portions  of  Gospel 
teaching  found  in  John's  Gospel. 


248       LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

With  the  rare  exception  of  an  incidental  statement,  such 
as  that  concerning  the  work  of  Christ  in  Galilee  (Luke 
iv.  14,  15 ;  John  iv.  43-46),  Luke  omits  everything 
that  John  records,  up  to  the  last  passover  week.  From 
that  point  onward  he  passes  over  all  that  spiritual  instruc- 
tion which  John  preserves  from  the  last  hours  of  the 
Saviour's  intercourse  with  his  disciples.  The  unspiritual 
Greek  was  not  yet  prepared  for  such  lessons  when  Luke 
gave  the  Gospel  permanent  form  for  him. 

Of  the  events  of  that  last  week  Luke  has  nothing  in 
common  with  John,  save  the  record  of  some. of  the  facts 
common  to  all  the  Evangelists,  as  centring  in  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ,  —  such  as  the  entry  into  Jerusalem  (Luke 
xix.  29-44),  —  with  perhaps  the  single  exception  of  a 
very  brief  statement  of  Peter's  first  visit  to  the  sepulchre 
(Luke  xxiv.  12 ;  John.  xx.  3-10).  Then,  as  now,  the 
man  who  deified  reason  and  gloried  in  a  merely  human 
culture  was  the  least  in  sympathy  with  the  true  Christian 
spirit.  John's  Gospel,  if  given  to  the  Greek  before 
Luke's,  would  have  been  in  the  profoundest  sense  foolish- 
ness to  him  (1  Cor.  i.  23). 

II.  Additions  of  tJie   Third   Crospel. 

The  Greek  bearing  of  the  extensive  additions  of  the 
third  Gospel  is  still  more  manifest. 

A  mechanical  analysis  has  shown  that  the  portion  of 
the  entire  Gospel  material  peculiar  to  the  third  Gospel  is 
much  larger  than  that  peculiar  to  either  the  first  or 
second,  in  fact,  much  larger  than  that  of  both  these  com- 
bined. If  this  Gospel  be  regarded  as  made  up  of  100 
parts,. 59  of  these  are  peculiar  to  itself,  and  only  41  com- 
mon to  it  with  one  or  more  of  tlie  other  Gospels.  The 
important  point,  however,  in  this  connection,  is,  that  all 
the  59  parts  peculiar  to  Luke  may  be  shown  to  be  espe- 
cially appropriate  to  the  Greek  soul  and  its  needs. 


OMISSIONS  AND   ADDITIONS.  249 

The  additions  resulting  from  the  historic  and  philosophic 
aim  with  which  Luke  prepared  his  Gospel,  and  appearing 
mainly  in  the  literar}^  form,  have  alread}^  been  noted.  So 
important  are  they,  tliat  even  if  the  Evangelist  had  used 
precisely  the  same  facts  and  teachings  with  the  other 
Evangelists,  his  Gospel  would  have  been  a  very  different 
one  from  theirs.  Luke's  view  given  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
while  in  real  harmony  with  that  of  Matthew  or  Mark, 
would  yet  have  differed  from  them  as  greatly  as  Plato's 
delineation  of  Socrates  differed  from  that  of  Xenophon. 
But  such  additions,  arising  from  the  spirit  and  aim  of  a 
writer,  cannot  be  clearly  expressed  in  words ;  they  must 
be  intuitively  discerned  by  the  soul  of  the  appreciative 
reader,  if  they  are  to  be  known  at  all. 

But  the  fifty-nine  parts  peculiar  to  Luke  are  tangible 
additions  and  may  be  examined  in  detail.  The  scope  of 
the  present  discussion  leaves  space  for  only  a  cursory  ex- 
amination. This,  however,  is  all  that  is  needed  for  the 
present  purpose. 

To  any  one  familiar  with  this  Gospel,  it  will  at  once 
occur  that  there  are  two  very  extensive  portions  of  it 
almost  entirely  its  own :  the  Introduction,  and  Part  Sec- 
ond. 

The  Avonderf  ul  apparent  likeness,  with  the  equally  won- 
derful real  difference,  of  the  Introductions  of  the  first 
and  third  Gospels,  has  been  remarked  in  considering  the 
omissions  of  Luke,  from  the  common  Gospel  material. 
There  is  not  even  the  appearance  of  likeness  between  the 
opening  chapters  of  Luke  and  those  of  Mark  and  John. 

Luke's  introduction  is  exactly  suited  to  the  Greek.  It 
starts  out  with  a  clear  and  concise  statement  of  the  liter- 
ary aim.  It  is  chiefly  occupied  with  the  presentation  of 
every  stage  in  the  development  of  the  veritable  humanity 
of  our  Lord,  beginning  from  the  counsels  of  God  and  end- 
ing with  the  completed  manhood  of  the  Son  of  God,  the 


250  LUKE,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE  GREEK. 

Saviour  of  the  world.  Luke  alone  records  those  revela- 
tions from  heaven,  concerning  the  forerunner  and  the 
Messiah,  which  preceded  their  birth,  and  indicate  the 
special  and  intense  interest  of  the  invisible  and  spiritual 
world  in  the  coming  Son  of  man,  —  including  the  poetic 
outpouring  of  the  souls  of  Mary  and  Zacharias,  and  the 
song  of  the  angels  at  the  Advent.  Luke  alone  gives 
the  Gospel  of  the  infancy  and  youth  of  Jesus,  —  includ- 
ing the  wonderful  events,  natural  and  supernatural,  ac- 
companying the  birth  and  cradling  in  the  manger;  the 
strange  recognition  attending  the  circumcision  and  the 
first  presentation  of  the  child  in  the  Temple  ;  the  unique 
experiences  marking  the  subsequent  visit  of  the  child  at 
twelve  years  of  age  to  his  Father's  house ;  and  the  law 
of  progress  in  his  human  development,  in  the  family  at 
Nazareth,  toward  the  perfect  manhood.  The  perfecting 
of  the  man  Luke  then  represents  as  completed  in  the 
baptism  of  John,  which  introduces  him  as  the  Jehovah 
of  prophecy,  the  teacher  of  the  world,  and  the  beloved 
Son  of  God;  in  the  genealogy,  which  traces  his  descent 
from  Adam  and  God  ;  and  in  the  temptation,  which  is 
liis  conquest  over  the  great  foe  of  humanity.  Every  line 
will  be  seen  to  bear  the  Greek  mark. 

The  second  of  the  extended  portions  peculiar  to  Luke 
(ix.  51-xviii.  30),  known  as  the  record  of  Christ's  gra- 
cious work  for  the  Gentile  world,  chiefly  across  the  Jor- 
dan, in  heathen  Perasa,  and  on  his  last  journey  to  Jeru- 
salem, is  no  less  characteristic.  The  fact  that  it  is  the 
record  of  a  work  for  Gentiles  demonstrates  its  fitness  for 
the  representative  of  the  Gentile  world.  Leaving  out  of 
view  the  aim  of  the  third  Gospel,  it  would  most  certainly 
be  a  marvelous  thing,  in  short,  perfectly  inexplicable,  that 
all  the  other  Evangelists  should  have  wholly  passed  by 
this  period  of  Christ's  work  ;  while  Luke  draws  almost 
half  of  his  entire  Gospel  —  two  thirds  of  the  heart  of  it 


OMISSIONS  AND   ADDITIONS.  251 

—  from  its  unique  work  and  doctrine.  But  the  Greek 
design  of  the  third  Gospel  once  admitted,  this  choice  of 
its  main  material  at  once  commends  itself  as  in  agreement 
both  with  the  human  reason  and  the  divine  guidance 
wdiich  entered  into  the  preparation  of  the  Gospels.  The 
rejected  messengers  of  mercy  to  the  Samaritans  and  the 
mission  of  the  Seventy  to  the  Gentiles  ;  the  picture  of 
the  sinfulness  of  the  apostate  religious  world  of  that  age 
in  contrast  with  the  true  faith  in  the  kingdom  of  God  ; 
the  universal  reach  of  the  offer  of  God's  salvation  ;  and 
the  portrayal  of  the  spiritual  life  in  the  kingdom  ;  all 
these  things,  as  brought  out  clearly  and  fully  in  this  rec- 
ord of  the  Peraean  ministry,  were  precisely  adapted  to 
the  wants  of  the  Greek  world. 

But  besides  these  extended  portions  of  Luke's  Gospel, 
which  contain  most  of  its  peculiar  teachings,  there  are 
other  and  briefer  sections,  given  by  this  Evangelist  alone, 
that  equally  bear  the  marks  of  his  Greek  aim.  These 
are  found  either  in  connection  with  the  Galilean  ministry 
of  Jesus,  or  with  those  final  events  of  his  career  which 
find  their  centre  in  the  cross. 

Of  the  former  additions,  the  bearing  may  readily  be 
seen.  Luke  alone  gives  an  account  of  the  early  rejection 
of  Jesus  at  Nazareth  (iv.  16-30),  which  led  him  to 
change  his  abode  to  Capernaum.  He  tells  us  that  Jesus, 
after  reading  Isaiah's  prophecy  (Ixi.  1,  2),  concerning 
the  anointing  of  the  Messiah  to  preach  a  gospel  of  grace 
to  the  poor  and  needy,  declared  that  the  prophet  referred 
to  him,  and  was  thereupon  rejected  by  the  Nazarenes, 
because  he  was  one  of  themselves.  The  Evangelist  adds, 
that  Jesus  then  enraged  them  by  showing  that,  even  in 
the  times  of  Elijah  and  Elisha,  the  Gentiles  were  some- 
times preferred  before  Israel  in  the  dispensation  of  God's 
blessings.  Luke  alone  records  the  teaching  from  the 
ship  on  Gennesaret,  when,  by  the  miraculous  draught  of 


252        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

fishes,  so  deep  an  impression  was  made  upon  Simon 
Peter  of  his  own  sinfulness,  and  he  was  called  to  become 
a  fisher  of  men,  and  when  he  and  James  and  John  for- 
sook all  and  followed  Jesus  (Luke  v.  1-11).  He  alone 
gives  the  Sermon  on  the  Plain  (vi.  17-49),  in  which  are 
unfolded  the  great  principles  that  should  govern  men  as 
men  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  in  following  which  tliey 
shall  ultimately  attain  to  complete  salvation.  He  alone 
preserves  the  account  of  the  raising  of  the  widow's  only  son 
at  Nain  (vii.  11-17),  and  the  manifestation  of  the  tender 
compassion  of  Jesus  toward  the  poor  widow,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  disciples  and  all  the  people.  Luke  alone  re- 
cords the  anointing  of  Jesus  by  the  penitent  woman,  in 
the  house  of  Simon  (vii.  36-50),  and  the  application  of 
the  parable  of  the  two  debtors  called  out  by  that  event, 
and  teaching  the  boundless  love  of  Christ  to  great  sin- 
ners and  their  boundless  gratitude  in  return  for  his  for- 
giveness, as  illustrated  in  that  one  sinner.  All  these 
passages  bear  the  marks  of  the  tenderness  and  humanity 
of  Jesus,  and  contain  hints  of  his  later  revelations  of 
himself  as  the  Saviour. of  the  whole  world. 

The  later  additions  give  evidence  of  a  like  spirit  and 
aim.  This  is  manifest  in  the  story  of  Zaccheus  the  pub- 
lican, and  the  parable  of  the  pounds  (xix.  1-27),  show- 
ing how  freely  Jesus  received  publicans  and  sinners  ;  in 
the  account  of  the  strife  among  the  disciples  at  the  last 
supper  (xxii.  24-30),  probably  over  the  washing  of  each 
other's  feet  (John  xiii.  1-20),  teaching  the  lesson  that  true 
greatness  in  the  kingdom  is  to  be  attained  by  humble 
service  for  humanity  ;  in  the  account  of  the  trial  before 
Herod  (xxiii.  6-12),  depicting  the  treatment  of  Jesus  by 
tlie  representatives  of  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  worlds  ; 
and  in  the  narrative  of  the  walk  of  Jesus  with  the  two 
disciples  toward  Emmaus  (xxiv.  13-35),  portraying  the 
intense  sympathy  with  God  and  man  of  him  who  could 


INCIDENTAL    VARIATIONS.  253 

SO  scan  the  farthest-reaching  purposes  of  the  former,  and 
so  set  on  fire  the  inmost  hearts  of  the  hitter.  All  these 
gospel  teachings  are  found  in  Luke  alone,  and  they  are 
all  in  perfect  harmony  with  his  Greek  spirit  and  aim. 

The  more  carefully  both  the  omissions  and  the  addi- 
tions of  the  third  Evangelist  are  examined,  the  more 
clearly  will  it  appear  that  they  were  eminently  suited 
to  commend  Jesus  to  the  Greek  world  of  that  age. 


SECTION  IV. 

THE    GREEK   ADAPTATION    IN    THE    INCIDENTAL  VARIA- 
TIONS   OF   THE   THIRD    GOSPEL. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  incidental  variations  and 
peculiarities  of  the  third  Gospel  will  make  still  clearer  its 
Greek  adaptation.  The  Greek  spirit  and  purpose  will 
be  found  to  pervade  the  entire  production,  shaping  both 
its  teaching  and  its  forms  of  expression. 

I.  Incidental    Variations, 

It  has  been  shown  that  Luke  was  preeminently  the 
historian  and  man  of  culture  among  the  Evangelists,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  one  most  fully  in  sympathy  with 
Paul  the  world-apostle.  His  production  bears  the  marks 
of  all  these  characteristics,  throughout  the  entire  extent 
of  its  variations  from  the  other  Gospels.  The  influence 
of  the  historic  and  philosophic  spirit  have  already  been 
sufficiently  illustrated,  so  that  there  is  necessity  for  only 
a  brief  consideration  of  this  branch  of  the  subject. 

Narrative  Changes.  Almost  every  passage  in  which 
Luke  records  something  in  common  with  one  or  more  of 
the  other  Evangelists  will  illustrate  with  equal  clearness 
and  force  his  distinctive  peculiarities. 

He  gives,  in  common  with   Matthew  and  Mark,  the 


254  LUKE,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   GREEK. 

account  of  the  ministry  of  the  Baptist.  By  comparing 
the  three  narratives,  it  will  appear  that  a  large  part  of 
Luke's  is  made  up  of  materials  not  given  by  the  others. 
He  alone  names  the  exact  date  of  the  opening  of  John's 
ministry,  "  m  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiherhis 
Ccesar  ;  "  and  makes  it  still  clearer  by  naming  all  the  con- 
temporary^ rulers,  Jewish  and  Galilean,  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical (iii.  1,  2).  He  alone  continues  the  quotation 
from  the  prophet  (iii.  4-6)  till  it  includes  the  capital 
sentence  for  the  Gentile  world  :  "  And  all  flesh  shall  see 
the  salvation  of  Crod.^^  He  also  adds  that  passage,  —  of  so 
much  wider  than  Jewish  application,  —  unfolding  the 
duties  of  the  people,  and  especially  of  publicans  and 
soldiers,  in  preparation  for  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  : 
^^  And  the  people  asked  him,  saying,  What  shall  ive  do 
then  f  He  answereth  and  saith  unto  them,  He  that  hath 
two  coats,  let  hi7n  iynpart  to  him  that  hath  none  ;  and  ha 
that  hath  meat,  let  him  do  likeivise.  Then  came  also  pub- 
licans to  he  baptized,  and  said  unto  him.  Master,  what 
shall  ice  do  ?  And  he  said  unto  them.  Exact  no  more 
than  that  which  is  appointed  you.  And  the  soldiers  like- 
ivise  demanded  of  him,  saying,  And  what  shall  we  do  ? 
And  he  said  unto  them.  Do  violence  to  no  man,  7ieither 
accuse  any  falsely  ;  and  he  content  with  your  wages^'  (iii. 
10-14).  So  Luke  alone  tells  us  that  it  was  "  as  the  peo- 
p)le  were  in  expectation,  and  all  mused  in  their  hearts  of 
John  "  (iii.  15),  that  the  Baptist  uttered  the  clear  and 
decisive  declaration  concerning  the  coming  of  the  mightier 
one,  the  Messiah  ;  and  he  alone  adds  to  what  is  common 
to  the  first  three  Evangelists,  as  if  to  complete  the  his- 
toric form  :  "  And  many  other  things  in  his  exhortation 
preached  he  unto  the  people  "  (iii.  18).  At  the  same 
time  he  passes  over  the  prophetic  credentials  of  the  fore- 
runner (Matt.  iii.  4),  and  transforms  what  in  Mark  is  a 
vivid  picture  into  a  sober  historic  account. 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  255 

The  account  of  our  Lord's  experience  in  Gethsemane 
is  also  given  by  the  first  three  Evangelists.  While  Mat- 
thew maintains  his  habit  of  careful  grouping  of  events, 
and  Mark  his  of  intense  and  vivid  expression,  and  both 
record  the  fact  that  Jesus  went  thrice  from  his  disciples 
and  repeated  the  prayer  to  his  Father ;  Luke  represents 
the  whole  as  a  season  of  prayer,  connected  with  a  great 
crisis  in  the  spiritual  experience  of  Jesus,  in  which  the 
agony  increased  in  power  until  it  reached  the  intensest 
pitch ;  and  he  alone  adds  :  "  A7id  there  appeared  an 
angel  unto  him  from  heaven^  strengthening  him.  And 
being  iii  an  agony ^  he  prayed  more  earnestly  ;  and  his 
sweat  was  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood  falling  doivn  to 
the  ground  "  (xxii.  43,  44).  So  only  Luke  tells  us,  witli  a 
touch  of  human  tenderness,  that  Jesus  found  the  dis- 
ciples "  sleeping  for  sorroiv.^^ 

These  examples  might  be  extended  to  cover  all  the 
narratives  of  events  common  to  Luke  with  some  other 
Evangelist;  and,  however  far  extended,  would  always 
bear  the  marks  of  special  adaptation  to  the  Greek,  the 
man  of  universal  human  sympathies. 

Slighter  Additions.  The  same  characteristics  appear 
in  the  slighter  incidental  additions  found  throughout  the 
third  Gospel. 

There  are  indications  here  and  there  of  Luke's  sym- 
pathy with  Paul  in  his  well-known  predilection  for  the 
number  three,  as  the  symbol  of  perfection,  which  often 
influenced  that  Apostle  even  in  the  construction  of  his 
sentences,  and  which  manifests  itself  in  his  Epistles  "  in 
his  constantly  tracing  back  all  doctrine  to  the  most  Holy 
Trinity  of  God,  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  and, 
in  the  practice  of  the  Christian  life,  to  the  trinity  of 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity."  i  Where  Matthew  (vii. 
9,  10)  gives  two  similitudes  intended  to  animate  to  be- 
1  Da  Costa,  The  Four  Witnesses,  p.  1 76. 


256        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

lieving  prayer,  Luke  (xi.  11, 12)  at  the  same  time  that  he 
emphasizes  the  fathe?^  acids  a  third  simihtude  :  "  If  a  son 
shall  ask  bread  of  any  of  you  that  is  a  father^  will  he 
give  him  a  stone  ?  or  if  he  ask  a  fish,  will  he  for  a  fish 
give  him  a  serpent  ?  or  if  he  shall  ask  an  egg^  will  he  offer 
him  a  scorpion  f*  Where  Matthew  (xxiv.  40,  41)  gives 
two  examples  of  the  difference  that  the  great  day  of  his 
coming  would  make  in  the  condition  of  persons  most  re- 
sembling each  other  externally,  Luke  (xvii.  34-36)  adds 
a  third  :  '''•I tell  you^  in  that  night  there  shall  he  tivo  7nen 
in  one  led;  the  one  shall  he  taken  and  the  other  left. 
Two  women  shall  be  grinding  together  ;  the  one  shall  be 
taken,  and  the  other  left.  Two  men  shall  be  in  the  field  ; 
the  one  shall  be  taken,  and  the  other  left."  So  it  has 
been  observed,  that  whereas  Matthew  (xviii.  12-14)  illus- 
trates the  restoration  of  the  wandering  sinner  to  favor  by 
the  parable  of  the  lost  sheep,  Luke  (xv.)  adds  the  still 
more  striking  ones  of  the  lost  piece  of  silver  and  the  prodi- 
gal son;  and  where  Matthew  (viii.  19-22)  records  two 
examples  of  what  is  required  in  following  Jesus,  Luke 
(ix.  57-62)  adds  a  third. 

There  are  likewise  remarkable  evidences  of  the  tender- 
ness toward  the  chosen  people  Israel,  which  Paul  exhibits 
so  strikingly  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (ix.  4,  5  ;  xi. 
18,  28),  and  which  was  so  becoming  to  one  who,  like 
Luke,  had  the  breadth  of  the  Greek  soul  while  he  owed 
all  his  hope  of  salvation  to  the  Jews.  The  Evangelist 
delights  to  record  the  recognition  by  Jesus  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Ahraham  whom  he  had  benefited.  He  alone 
gives  an  account  of  the  conversion  of  Zaccheus,  adding 
his  nationality  :  "  This  da}^  is  salvation  come  to  this  house, 
forasmuch  as  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham^''  (xix.  9).  It 
is  Luke  (xiii.  16)  who  gives  our  Lord's  defense  of  the 
woman  who  was  bowed  together,  addressed  to  the  hypo- 
critical ruler  of  the  synagogue  :  '-'  Ought  not  this  woman, 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  257 

heiiig  a  daugliter  of  Abraham^  whom  Satan  hath  bound, 
lo,  these  eighteen  years,  be  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the 
Sabbath-day  ?  " 

While  Luke  is  distinctively  the  Evangelist  of  the  Greek 
world,  he  shows  the  spirit  of  the  universal  man,  in  his 
appreciation  of  the  relation  of  salvation  to  the  Jews.  It 
is  he  that  writes,  in  giving  the  announcement  of  the  angel 
concerning  the  Baptist  (i.  16)  :  ''  And  many  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  shall  be  turned  to  the  Lord  their  God  ;  "  and 
in  the  announcement  concerning  Jesus  (i.  32,  33)  :  "  The 
Lord  God  shall  give  unto  him  the  thro7ie  of  his  father 
David,  and  he  shall  reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob  forever." 
It  is  true  also  that  Luke  alone  records  all  three  of  Christ's 
lamentations  over  the  doomed  Jerusalem  (xiii.  34,  35 ; 
xix.  41-44;  xxiii.  27-31).  "Finally,  it  is  Luke  Avho,  in 
addition  to  the  detailed  prophecy  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  given  by  all  the  three  synoptical  Evangelists, 
records  the  hint  that  was  given  of  the  restoration  that 
she  might  one  day  expect.  In  his  Gospel  alone,  we  read, 
in  the  prediction  uttered  by  Jesus  on  the  mount  of  Olives, 
these  significant  words  (xxi.  24):  'And  they  shall  fall  by 
the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  shall  be  led  away  captive  into 
all  nations  :  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of  the 
Gentiles,  imtil  the  times  of  the  Grentiles  be  fulfilled.''  "  ^ 

Word  Changes.  The  Grecian  drift  of  the  third  Evan- 
gelist may  also  be  traced  throughout  his  Gospel,  in  his 
dej)arture  from  the  usage  of  the  other  Evangelists  in  the 
employment  of  words. 

The  prominence  given  by  Luke  to  the  word  sinner  in 
its  various  forms  will  be  alluded  to  elsewhere.  His  use 
of  the  word  people  will  still  better  illustrate  the  point 
under  consideration.  He  uses  it  oftener  than  all  the 
other  Evangelists.  A  single  example  will  suffice.  In 
relating  the  healing  of  the  blind  man  of  Jericho,  Matthew 

1  The  Four  Witnesses,  p.  183 
17 


258        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

(xx.  29)  says  that  "  a  great  multitude  (^croivcT)  followed 
him,"  and  rebuked  the  blind  men  when  they  cried  for 
mercy  (31)  ;  Mark,  that  "  he  went  out  of  Jericho  with  his 
disciples  and  a  great  number  of  people  "  (x.  46),  and, 
that  when  the  blind  man  cried  out,  ^'-many  charged  him 
that  he  should  hold  his  peace  "  (48)  ;  Luke,  that  "  tliey 
ivhich  went  before''''  rebuked  the  blind  man  (xviii.  89), 
and  that  all  the  people  when  they  saw  it  gave  praise  unto 
God  (43).  That  definite  and,  so  to  speak,  organized 
body,  the  people^  thus  takes  the  place  of  the  indefinite 
croivd^  many^  and  great  number. 

The  examination  might  be  extended  to  the  entire  Gos- 
pel with  like  results.  The  moulding  presence  of  the 
Greek  aim  and  spirit  would  be  ever}^ where  manifest,  and 
that  in  proportion  to  the  thoroughness  of  the  investiga- 
tion. 

II.    Other  Peculiarities. 

The  survey,  thus  far  taken,  of  the  third  Gospel,  has 
prepared  for  the  more  definite  presentation  of  some  of 
those  incidental  features,  in  assumption  or  expression, 
which  demonstrate  most  clearly  its  Greek  adaptation. 
These  features  may  be  brought  out  in  connection  with 
the  character  of  Jesus  as  the  perfect  man,  and  with  the 
revelation  of  God  and  the  invisible  world. 

Jesus  the  Universal  Man.  It  has  already  appeared 
that  Jesus  bears  in  the  third  Gospel  the  character  of  the 
perfect,  divine  man,  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  This  may 
be  more  fully  demonstrated  by  tracing  the  progress  of 
his  human  development,  and  bringing  out  the  elements  of 
complete  manhood  and  the  distinctive  features  of  his 
work  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  as  these  things  are 
presented  in  the  Gospel  according  to  Luke. 

The  Evangelist  records  the  early  human  development 
of  Jesus. 


INCIDENTAL    VARIATIONS.  259 

In  this  Gospel  alone  do  we  read  of  the  salutation  of 
Elizabeth,  "  Blessed  art  thou  among  women,  and  blessed 
is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb"  (i.  42)  ;  that  the  babe  "  was 
wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes  "  (ii.  7)  ;  that  the  child  was 
"  circumcised  on  the  eighth  day  "  (ii.  21)  ;  that  he  "  was 
presented  to  the  Lord  in  the  Temple"  (ii.  27)  ;  that  "the 
child,"  or  lad,  "grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit" 
(ii.  40)  ;  that  "  the  grace  of  God  was  upon  him  "  (ii.  40)  ; 
that  when  he  was  twelve  years  old  his  parents  took  him 
with  them,  after  the  custom  of  the  Jews,  to  Jerusalem,  to 
the  feast  of  the  Passover  (ii.  41,  42)  ;  that  after  his  in- 
terview with  the  doctors  he  gave  to  his  mother  that  won- 
derful answer,  indicative  of  the  dawning  consciousness  in 
the  child's  soul  of  his  mission  (ii.  49)  ;  that  then  he 
"  went  down  "  again  with  his  parents,  and  "  came  to 
Nazareth  and  was  subject  to  them  "  (ii.  51)  ;  that  he  "  in- 
creased in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favor  with  God 
and  man"  (ii.  52)  ;  that  when  he  was  baptized  by  John 
he  "  began  to  be  about  thirty  years  of  age  "  (iii.  23). 

But  besides  giving  so  minutel}^  his  early  human  de- 
velopment, Luke,  throughout  his  whole  Gospel,  is  con- 
stantly tracing  and  dwelling  upon  the  peculiar  marks  of 
our  Lord's  humanity  to  the  end  of  his  career.  In  Luke 
alone  do  we  read  of  "the  paps  which  he  had  sucked" 
(xi.  27);  of  his  "rejoicing  in  spirit"  (x.  21);  of  his 
weeping  over  the  city  (xix.  41)  ;  of  his  kneeling  down  in 
prayer  (xxii.  41)  ;  of  the  appearance  of  an  angel  from 
heaven  in  Gethsemane  strengthening  him  (xxii.  43)  ; 
that  being  in  an  agony  he  prayed  more  earnestly,  and  his 
sweat  was,  as  it  were,  great  drops  of  blood  falling  down 
to  the  ground  (xxii.  44)  ;  that  like  "  a  righteous  man," 
wliich  the  centurion  is  here  said  to  have  called  him,  he 
cried  with  his  latest  breath,  "  Father,  into  thy  hands  I 
commend  my  spirit  "  (xxiii.  46)  ;  that  after  his  resurrec- 
tion, he  verified  liis  resurrection-body  to  his  disciples  by 


260        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

sitting  at  meat  with  them,  by  taking  a  piece  of  broiled 
fish  and  of  a  honey-comb  and  eating  it  before  them,  and 
by  bidding  them  to  handle  him  and  see  that  it  was  him- 
self ;  that  he  said,  "  It  is  I  myself ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not 
flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  me  have  "  (xxiv.  39)  ;  that  he 
made  the  hearts  of  those  two  disciples  burn  within  them 
by  the  power  of  his  human  sympathy,  as  he  walked  and 
talked  with  them  on  their  way  to  Emmaus  (xxiv.  32). 
These  features,  brought  out  in  this  Gospel  alone,  are 
enough  to  tell  the  complete  and  connected  story  of  the 
development  of  the  veritable  man  Jesus.  They  are  but 
surface  indications  on  the  great  current  of  his  life,  as 
presented  by  the  Gentile  Evangelist  for  the  Greek. 

It  is  no  less  remarkable  that  all  the  elements  of  a  com- 
plete manhood  are  brought  out  in  the  third  Gospel  with 
wonderful  distinctness. 

Keenly  incisive  as  were  the  thoughts  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, he  was  no  "  clear,  cold,  logic  engine."  The  reality 
of  his  human  sj^mpathies  and  affections  is  exhibited  in  an 
almost  exhaustless  variety  of  interesting  details,  while  he 
is  shown  to  be  possessed  of  a  depth  and  breadth  and  in- 
tensity of  human  feeling  before  unknown  to  the  world. 
This  element  in  his  character  is  seen  to  the  best  advan- 
tage in  the  relations  which  Luke  represents  him  as  hold- 
ing to  those  classes  of  humanity  for  which  the  age  cared 
the  least :  to  children  ;  to  woman  ;  to  the  outcasts  from 
society. 

The  other  Evangelists  tell  us  of  our  Lord's  blessing 
children,  but  Luke  commonly  adds  something  that  brings 
out  the  tenderness  of  his  regard  for  them.  He  alone  tells 
us  that  they  were  infants  that  were  brought  to  Jesus 
when  he  so  graciousl}^  and  winningly  presented  himself 
as  the  children's  Saviour:  "  And  they  brought  unto  him 
also  infants  that  he  would  touch  them  "  (xxiii.  15)  ; 
that  the  daughter  of  Jairus  was  only  a  child  :   "  one  only 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  261 

dangliter  about  twelve  years  of  age  "  (viii.  42)  ;  that 
the  demoniac  healed  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Trans- 
figuration was  a  child  :  "  Master,  I  beseech  thee,  look 
upon  my  son,  for  he  is  mine  only  child  "  (ix.  38).  Tak- 
ing such  incidents  in  connection  with  Luke's  remarkable 
presentation  of  the  childhood  of  the  Baptist  and  of  Jesus 
in  the  opening  chapters  of  the  Gospel,  it  is  easy  to  under- 
stand why  this  should  have  been  called  the  children's 
Gospel. 

The  affectionate  regard  of  our  Lord  for  woman  is  an 
equally  marked  feature  of  this  Gospel.  Luke  tells  us  of 
"  certain  women  which  had  been  healed  of  evil  spirits  and 
infirmities,  Mary,  called  Magdelene,  out  of  whom  went 
seven  devils,  and  Joanna,  the  wife  of  Chuza,  Herod's 
steward,  and  Susanna,  and  many  others  which  ministered 
unto  him  of  their  substance"  (viii.  3)  ;  of  the  penitent 
woman  who  anointed  him  at  the  feast  in  the  house  of  Si- 
mon the  Pharisee  (vii.  46)  ;  of  certain  women  who  lifted 
up  their  voices  and  blessed  him  (xi.  27)  ;  of  his  address  to 
the  women  of  Jerusalem  who  followed  hiui  to  the  cross 
weeping  (vii.  38)  ;  of  the  restoration  of  the  son  of  the 
widow  of  Nain  (vii.  11-16).  It  is  Luke  who  first  intro- 
duces us  to  those  typical  women  of  all  ages,  Martha  and 
Mary,  the  one  cumbered  with  much  serving,  and  the 
other  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  while  he  teaches  both 
herself  and  the  sister  who  rebukes  her,  the  true  mis- 
sion of  woman,  and  her  real  glory  in  devotion  to  him 
(x.  38-42).  Such  incidents  as  these,  in  connection  with 
the  tender  regard  so  often  exhibited  for  the  widowed  and 
bereaved,  and,  more  than  all,  in  connection  with  those 
wonderful  events  in  the  lives  of  Elizabeth  and  Mary, 
unfolded  only  here,  by  bringing  Jesus  into  closest  sympa- 
thy with  true  womanhood,  and  by  exalting  the  glory  of 
true  motherhood  through  her  who  was  "  blessed  among 
women  (i.  28,  42),"  entitle  this  Gospel  to  be  called  in  a 


262       LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

peculiar  sense,  the  Gospel  of  woman,  for  whom  that  old 
Greek  world  had  no  Gospel. 

More  wonderful  still  was  the  affectionate  sympa^thy  of 
our  Lord,  depicted  in  this  Gospel,  with  the  poor,  despised, 
suffering,  outcast  classes  of  society.  While  he  constantly 
rebuked  and  warned  the  hypocrite,  the  self-sufficient,  the 
self-righteous,  the  rich,  the  luxurious,  the  frivolous,  and 
the  thoughtless,  —  as  in  the  case  of  the  ruler  of  the  sjaia- 
gogue  who  found  fault  with  him  for  loosing  the  woman, 
on  the  Sabbath,  from  the  spirit  of  infirmity  which  had 
bowed  her  together  for  eighteen  years  (xiii.  11)  ;  in  the 
case  of  those  who  complacently  told  him  of  the  Galileans 
whose  blood  Pilate  had  mingled  with  their  sacrifices  (xiii. 
1)  ;  in  the  case  of  the  Pharisees  who  derided  his  teach- 
ing concerning  man's  stewardship,  and  whose  character 
and  destiny  he  unfolded  in  the  parable  of  the  rich  man 
and  Lazarus  (xvi.  19-31)  ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  rich 
man  who  had  much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years  (xii. 
19),  — he  is  yet  everywhere  presented  as  the  friend  of 
the  poor  and  the  needy.  Li  Luke's  GosjDel  alone  the 
beatitudes  all  become  blessings  to  the  poor  and  suffering 
(vi.  20-22)  ;  the  most  precious  of  the  parables,  —  as  the 
great  supper,  the  marriage  feast,  Lazarus  and  the  rich 
man,  the  good  Samaritan,  and  the  prodigal,  —  all  mark 
this  Gospel  as  preeminently  for  the  poor.  The  experi- 
ence of  our  Lord  himself  is  presented  as  that  of  one  of 
the  poor,  since  he  became  poor,  was  laid  in  a  manger, 
and  his  parents  were  obliged  to  offer  at  his  presentation 
in  the  Temple  the  offering  of  the  poor,  "  a  pair  of  turtle 
doves  or  two  young  pigeons  "  (ii.  24). 

But  Luke  makes  the  sympathy  of  Jesus  with  the  abso- 
lute outcasts  to  stand  out  still  more  clearly.  It  appears 
in  the  friendly  recognition  of  publicans  ;  in  the  parable 
of  him  who  went  up  to  the  Temple  to  pray,  and  stand- 
ing afar  off  with   downcast  eyes   smote  his    breast  and 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  263 

prayed,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  simier  "  (xviii.  13)  ; 
in  the  story  of  Zaccheus  (xix.  1-10)  ;  in  the  treatment  of 
the  sinful  but  penitent  woman  who  anointed  him  (vii.)  ; 
in  the  parables  of  the  lost  piece  of  money  and  the  lost 
sheep  (xvi.  11)  ;  in  that  wonderful  "  Gospel  within  the 
Gospel,"  —  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  (xv.) ;  in  the 
memoir  of  the  penitent  malefactor  on  the  cross  (xxiii. 
42,  43).  It  is  no  marvel,  then,  that  this  Gospel,  more 
than  all  the  others,  may  be  said  to  have  given  birth  and 
inspiration  to  all  the  great  reformatory  movements,  — 
the  care  for  the  poor,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the  insane,  the 
maimed,  the  widowed  and  orphaned,  the  aged,  even  the 
criminal,  —  which  distinguish  modern  Christendom.  The 
third  Gospel  is  in  a  peculiar  sense  the  Gospel  of  those 
for  whom  in  all  ages  this  world  has  had  no  Gospel. 

But  the  expressions  of  this  limitless  tenderness  and 
compassion,  on  the  part  of  Jesus,  reach  their  height  in 
his  treatment  of  the  apostate  and  doomed  Jews.  Luke 
alone  twice  records  Christ's  weeping  over  Jerusalem  (xiii. 
34,  35  ;  xix.  41-44),  bringing  out  with  graphic  power 
those  sadder  features  of  the  coming  ruin  which  Matthew 
does  not  present  (Matt,  xxiii.  37-39).  Luke  alone  re- 
cords the  compassionate  address  of  Jesus  to  the  women 
of  Jerusalem,  who  made  lamentation  over  him  as  he  went 
forth  to  Calvary  with  his  cross  (xxiii.  27-31),  with  its 
equally  graphic  picture  of  the  impending  ruin  of  the 
doomed  city.  He  alone  records  the  prayer  for  the  for- 
giveness of  his  defiant  and  scoffing  and  cruel  murderers 
(xxiii.  34).  He  who  died  upon  that  cross  could  weep 
over  the  remediless  ruin  of  the  worst  of  apostate  and 
doomed  races,  and  could  pray  for  the  forgiveness  of  the 
most  cruel  and  guilty  murderers  of  all  ages. 

This  man  of  such  matchless  sjnnpathies,  so  tireless  in 
his  beneficent  activities,  so  boundless  in  his  self-sacrifice 
for  others,  Luke  exhibits  as  combining  perfect  moral  pu- 


264        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

rity  with  an  unapproached  and  inapproachable  faith, 
piety,  and  devotion  toward  God. 

This,  most  of  all,  was  needed  to  correct  the  Greek 
idea  of  manhood.  Not  all  in  man  is  divine,  nor  even,  in 
the  noblest  sense,  manly.  From  that  hour  when  Luke 
sent  forth  his  Gospel,  the  character  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth became  the  perpetual  condemnation  of  the  appetite 
and  passion,  and  the  earthliness  and  godlessness,  of  the 
Greek  world.  In  Jesus  appeared  a  conscious  and  con- 
stant dependence  on  God,  expressing  itself  in  prayer, 
which  is  found  linked  with  all  the  great  events  of  his  ca- 
reer, from  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  at  his  baptism, 
to  that  last  act  by  which  he  yielded  up  his  spirit  to  God 
on  the  cross  ;  a  perfect  devotion  to  God,  which  never  fal- 
tered in  all  that  weary  way  from  the  manger  to  the 
grave  ;  and  that  perfect,  conscious  freedom  from  taint  of 
sin,  in  which  he  stands  alone  in  all  the  ages,  and  by 
which  he  realized  that  ideal  of  perfect  manhood  of  which 
the  highest  Greek  thought,  the  profoundest  Greek  phi- 
losophy, and  the  noblest  Greek  art,  were  at  the  best  but 
anxious  and  troubled  dreams.  All  the  elements  of  a  true 
and  complete  manhood  thus  unite  in  the  Jesus  of  the 
third  Gospel,  to  attract  to  him  the  Greek  soul  wherever 
it  is  found. 

This  true  and  perfect  man  is  also  presented  as  the  uni- 
versal man,  the  one  ''  Son  of  Man,"  whose  human  inter- 
est and  sympathy  and  affection  and  mission  are  bounded 
only  by  the  race. 

That  Luke  wrote  his  Gospel  for  universal  humanity, 
and  not  for  Jew,  Roman,  or  Christian,  appears  abun- 
dantly in  what  has  already  been  said  ;  but  it  likewise  ap- 
pears everywhere  in  the  Gospel,  from  the  announcement 
that  he  shall  be  "  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles  "  (Luke 
ii.  32),  and  that  he  sliall  "  bring  peace  on  earth  "  and 
*'  good  will  to  men  '  (Luke  ii.  14),  until  that  last  decla- 


INCIDENTAL    VARIATIONS.  ^65 

ration  to  the  disciples,  that  "  repentance  and  remission  of 
sins  shall  be  preached  in  his  name  among  all  nations,  be- 
ginning at  Jerusalem"  (Luke  xxiv.  47).  The  geneal- 
ogy here  given  (Luke  iii.  23-38)  is  not  that  of  his  legal, 
royal,  and  covenant  descent,  as  Messiah  by  Joseph  from 
David  and  Abraham,  which  was  needed  for  the  Jew ; 
but  his  actual,  natural  descent  from  Mary,  traced  all  the 
way  up  to  the  one  father  of  the  great  human  brotherhood, 
to  Adam,  "  which  was  the  son  of  God  "  (iii.  38)  ;  and 
which  would  show  the  Greek  that  man  was  not  autochtho- 
nous^ or  sprung  from  the  earth,  as  he  vainly  supposed, 
but  of  divine  origin.  Here,  in  the  latter  half  of  this 
Gospel,  are  gathered  together  all  those  gracious  parables 
found  nowhere  else,  which  present  the  freeness  and  full- 
ness of  God's  love  to  all  the  suffering  and  sorrowing 
world,  and  w^hich  have  always  been  esteemed  the  choicest 
treasure  of  the  nations :  the  good  Samaritan,  the  great 
supper,  the  lost  sheep,  the  lost  piece  of  money,  and  the 
prodigal.  Here  alone  do  we  find  the  sending  out  of  the 
Seventy,  and  the  work  of  our  Lord  himself  among  that 
heathen  people  in  Per^ea,  which  were  the  precursors  and 
promises  of  like  work  for  all  mankind,  and  the  events 
and  teachings  of  which  furnish  nearly  all  of  the  second 
ten  chapters  of  this  Gospel.  Here  alone  the  last  great 
struggle,  in  which  Jesus  is  borne  to  the  cross,  is  fully  rep- 
resented as  being,  what  it  was  in  fact,  not  simply  a  strug- 
gle between  Jesus  and  the  Jewish  people,  but  also  a 
struggle  between  the  leading  classes  at  Jerusalenj,  who 
envied  and  hated  Jesus,  and  the  people  who  followed  him, 
heard  him  gladly,  rejoiced  in  him,  and  went  back  from 
the  crucifixion  beating  their  breasts  for  grief  at  his  death 
(xxiii.  48), — a  struggle  in  which  the  leaders  succeeded 
in  accomplishing  their  bloody  purpose,  only  by  making  a 
compact  with  one  of  the  followers  of  Jesus  (xxii.  4),  by 
taking  advantage  of  the  darkness  and  by  calling  in  the 


266        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

Roman  power  to  aid  them  (xxiv.  1,  7).  Thus,  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  does  this  Gospel  everywhere  prove  itself 
to  be  in  very  truth  the  Gospel  of  universal  humanity. 

This  universal  man,  brother  of  human  kind,  is  pre- 
sented in  Luke's  Gospel  as  being  at  once  both  God  and 
man,  the  divine  man. 

It  has  been  shown  by  a  modern  writer  how  difficult  a 
thing  it  is  to  dramatize,  and  to  represent  in  action,  a 
character  embracing  the  human  and  divine,  in  an  im- 
perfect world.  There  never  has  been  a  successful  at- 
tempt to  do  it  except  in  the  Gospel  history  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  Each  of  the  Evangelists  achieves  the  difficult 
task  ;  but  in  the  Gospel  according  to  Luke  it  is  achieved 
in  the  face  of  greater  difficulties  than  in  the  other  Gos- 
pels, for  the  reason  that  he  brings  out  the  humanity  of 
our  Lord  most  fully.  While  he  makes  the  humanity 
so  prominent,  he  makes  the  Divinity  scarcely  less  prom- 
inent. Jesus  is  brought  forward  as  Jehovah,  in  the 
angelic  message  to  Zacharias  (i.  11-21),  in  the  poetic 
prophecy  of  Zacharias  (i.  67-80),  in  the  annunciation  by 
the  angels  to  the  shepherds  (ii.  13),  and  in  the  preach- 
ing of  the  forerunner  (iii.  3-17).  He  appears  as  the 
"Son  of  the  Highest,"  and  as  the  "Son  of  God,"  in 
the  message  of  the  angel  to  the  Virgin  Mary  (i.  26-38), 
and  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  "Son  of  God"  by  the 
Father  at  the  baptism  (iii.  22),  and  by  the  world  of  evil 
spirits  (iv.  41 ;  viii.  28).  He  is  represented  as  claiming 
to  be  God  by  assuming  the  prerogative  and  exercising  the 
power  of  the  almighty  Moral  Governor  in  forgiving  sin, 
and  then  as  establishing  his  right  and  power  to  do  it 
by  healing  the  palsied  man  (v.  18-26).  He  is  exhibited 
as  going  through  life,  performing  works  of  power  that  are 
possible  to  God  only.  God  was  everywhere  in  the  per- 
fect man,  Jesus.  Here,  certainly,  was  just  the  Saviour 
the  Greek  needed.     He  wanted  some  living  image  of  God 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  267 

in  some  truly  perfect  man.  He  had  striven  after  this  in 
his  poor  blind  way  ;  but  the  end  was  only  godlessness,  or 
the  altar  to  "  the  unknown  God."  He  had  longed  for  hu- 
manity in  its  perfection  and  glory,  for  a  God  who  should 
be  a  son  of  man.  Jesus  was  that.  So  Luke  portrays 
him.  Jesus  was  Deity  taking  human  form.  Through 
that  deep  heart  and  matchless  intellect  and  marvelous 
sense  of  the  beautiful  God  himself  shone.  In  that  spot- 
less character  and  that  active  life  of  love,  God  himself 
lived  and  wrought.  Jesus  was  most  human,  the  great 
and  perfect  brother,  and  yet  most  divine,  the  great  and 
perfect  God. 

The  Revelation  of  God  and  the  Invisible  World. 
The  third  Gospel  is  equally  unique  in  the  fullness  and 
vividness  of  its  revelation  of  God  and  the  spiritual  world, 
both  in  themselves  and  in  their  relations  to  man  and  this 
present  world. 

In  Luke's  portrayal  of  the  divine  man,  that  God,  whom 
the  Greek  had  put  far  off  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  the 
universe,  and  whom  he  regarded  as  taking  no  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  men,  is  brought  very  near,  and  shown 
to  have  the  deepest  interest  in  human  affairs,  and  the 
closest  sympathy  with  man  in  his  joys  and  sorrows,  in 
his  life  and  death. 

In  truth,  this  Gospel  swept  away  all  the  gods  of  Greece. 
"  There  is  but  one  God,"  was  the  voice  of  the  word.  It 
swept  away  nymphs,  satyrs,  and  fauns,  furies,  fates,  and 
muses,  —  everything  with  which  the  Greek  imagination 
had  peopled  mountain  and  forest,  land  and  sea,  the 
depths  of  the  earth  and  the  expanse  of  the  sk}^  It  took 
the  life  out  of  much  of  Grecian  art,  made  mere  airy 
fancies  of  the  finest  works  of  Phidias  and  Praxiteles,  of 
Homer  and  ^schylus,  of  even  Plato  and  Aristotle  ;  but 
it  revealed  an  invisible  world,  with  its  hosts  of  heavenly 
beings  far  more  pure  and  beautiful  than  any  creation  of 


268        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

man's  art  or  thought,  and  engaged  as  messengers  of  God 
in  ministries  of  love  to  men.  God  himself  is  interested 
in  the  sorrow  of  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth,  and  the  heavr 
ens  open  and  Gabriel  descends  with  the  promise  of  bless- 
ing ;  He  would  make  the  virgin  "  blessed  among  women," 
and  the  heavens  open  again  and  the  angel  comes  down  to 
crown  her  with  perpetual  honor  and  joy  ;  He  would  give 
glad  tidings  to  the  sorrowing  earth,  and  his  glory  bursts 
the  barriers  of  the  skies  and  shines  upon  the  lowly  shep- 
herds, and  the  angel  of  the  annunciation  proclaims  to 
them  the  tidings  of  great  joy,  while  the  angelic  host  be- 
comes visible  joining  the  first  "glory  in  the  highest" 
with  peace  and  good  will  to  men.  The  nearness  and 
tenderness  of  God  are  made  evident  in  all  the  compas- 
sionate work  of  Jesus,  his  incarnate  Son  ;  in  the  teachings 
of  all  the  great  distinctive  parables  of  this  Gospel ;  in 
short,  in  its  whole  matter  and  manner. 

But  this  revelation  of  the  powers  of  the  unseen  world 
is  represented  to  the  Greeks  as  having  a  great  and  benefi- 
cent design. 

Luke  exhibits,  with  a  distinctness  and  fullness  not  ap- 
proached by  the  other  Gospels,  the  ruined  and  miserable 
condition  of  human  nature  as  sinful  and  corrupt ;  the 
twofold  possible  destiny  of  man ;  and  the  design  of  God 
to  lift  him  out  of  his  condition  of  evil,  and  bring  him  into 
union  and  communion  with  himself. 

The  Greek  required  especially  to  be  taught  the  true 
condition  of  human  nature.  The  idea  and  nature  of  sin 
needed  to  be  made  familiar  to  him,  and  a  sense  of  his 
own  sinfulness  to  be  aroused  in  him.  He  had  been  ac- 
customed to  find  the  cause  of  his  failure  to  become  the 
perfect  man,  and  the  cause  of  the  weakness  and  the  suf- 
fering in  the  world,  in  human  limitation  or  misfortune  ; 
before  he  could  be  saved  he  must  be  taught  to  find  it 
in  human  sin.      Luke,  therefore,  unfolds,  in  a  manner 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  269 

equally  striking  and  peculiar  to  himself,  the  sinfulness  of 
man.  He  uses  the  word  sinner  oiteneY  than  all  the  other 
Evangelists  combined.  Any  one  who  will  carefully  ex- 
amine this  Gospel  for  himself  with  this  point  in  view, 
will  be  astonished  to  see  how  the  ideas  of  righteousness 
and  unrighteousness,  sin  and  holiness,  repentance  and  re- 
mission, color  all  its  teachings,  from  the  opening  scene, 
where  it  is  declared  that  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth  "  were 
both  righteous  before  God,  walking  in  all  the  command- 
ments and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  blameless  "  (i.  6)  ;  all 
through  the  vivid  presentations  and  clear  condemnations 
of  the  prevalent  forms  of  sin,  —  such  as  hypocrisy, 
formality,  and  covetousness,  —  which  abound  in  the  body 
of  the  Gospel ;  to  the  conclusion,  where  the  work  to 
which  the  disciples  are  sent  is  to  preach  "  repentance 
and  remission  of  sins  "  (xxiv.  47)  among  all  nations. 

In  harmony  with  all  this  is  the  portrayal  of  the  sad 
state  of  man,  in  those  inimitable  pictures,  the  parables  of 
the  prodigal  and  the  good  Samaritan.  In  the  latter  par- 
able, "  the  wretched  condition  of  human  nature,  straying 
from  God's  presence,  and  swerving  from  obedience  to 
his  law,  is  displayed  in  the  person  of  the  traveler  going 
forth  from  Jerusalem,  the  holy  city,  to  Jericho,  the  city 
of  the  world.  In  its  way  it  falls  among  thieves.  Human 
nature  was  encountered  by  the  arch-thief,  Satan,  and 
was  stripped  of  its  original  righteousness,  and  was  left 
half  dead.  The  priesthood  came  by,  and  the  law  came 
by,  and  cast  a  transitory  glance  upon  it ;  but  they  only 
showed  its  misery  and  evinced  their  own  inability  to  heal 
it,  by  leaving  it  where  it  was  and  passing  by  it  on  the 
other  side.  But  at  last  the  Samaritan  caiiie.  He  had 
compassion  on  it,  and  bound  up  its  wounds,  pouring  in 
the  oil  and  wine  which  he  had  with  him,  and  laid  it  on 
his  own  beast,  and  brought  it  to  the  inn  and  took  care 
of  it.     Christ,  the  good  Samaritan,  came  from  heaven  on 


270  LUKE,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR  THE   GREEK. 

a  blessed  journey,  and  saw  mankind  lying  helpless  in  the 
road  of  this  world,  stripped  and  naked,  full  of  bruises 
and  putrefying  sores.  He  bound  up  its  wounds,  and 
poured  in  the  oil  and  wine  of  his  own  cleansing  and 
sanctifying  blood,  and  lifted  it  up  from  the  ground  and 
put  it  on  his  own  beast.  He  himself  bore  our  griefs  and 
carried  our  sorrows.  He  himself  bore  our  sins  in  his  own 
body  on  the  tree.  He  brought  us  to  the  inn  and  has 
given  us  to  the  keeping  of  the  host,  with  a  charge  to  take 
care  of  us  ;  and  at  his  departure  he  provided  for  us,  and  he 
has  promised  to  come  again  and  demand  an. account  of 
our  treatment."  ^  Equally  pertinent  and  graphic,  as 
might  readily  be  shown,  is  the  parable  of  the  prodigal. 
And  throughout  this  Gospel  that  wondrous  love  and  grace 
of  God,  which  Luke  delights  to  trace,  and  the  aim  of 
which  is  to  deliver  humanity  from  its  sad  condition, 
bring  out  more  strikingly  by  force  of  contrast  this  heavy 
background  of  sin  and  misery. 

The  Greek  required  that  the  future  destiny  of  man 
should  be  made  clear  to  him.  "  The  state  of  the  disem- 
bodied soul  was  a  question  on  which  the  mind  of  the 
Greek  world  had  indulged  in  many  inquisitive  specula- 
tions, and  on  which  it  needed  instruction.  The  terrors 
of  Tartarus  and  the  joys  of  Elysium,  which  had  been  dis- 
played in  the  writings  of  their  poets,  exercised  a  dominant 
influence  on  the  imagination  and  practice  of  heathendom  ; 
and,  in  the  apostolic  age,  they  had  a  strong  hold  on  the 
popular  mind,  and  alarmed  it  with  superstitious  fears,  or 
mocked  it  with  illusory  hopes.  Men,  indeed,  of  a  more 
philosophical  temper,  looked  on  with  skeptical  indiffer- 
ence, and  treated  these  representations  as  legendary 
fables,  and  denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body  and  the 
doctrine  of  future  retribution.  Therefore,  the  healing 
art  of  the  beloved  physician,  St.  Luke,  might  well  be 
1  Wordsworth,  Introduction  to  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  p.  161. 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  271 

employed  in  providing  a  remedy  for  this  spiritual  malady. 
Accordingly,  we  see  that  he  has  taken  care  to  record  two 
sayings  of  our  blessed  Lord,  which  reflect  the  clearest 
light  on  this  mysterious  subject,  —  the  state  of  the  soul 
immediately  after  death,  and  during  the  interval  of  its 
dissolution  and  the  day  of  resurrection  and  of  judgment. 
He  has  done  this  in  his  recital  of  the  history  of  the  rich 
man  and  Lazarus,  and  in  the  speech  of  our  Lord  to  the 
penitent  thief  on  the  cross,  '  To-day  thou  shalt  be  with 
me  in  Paradise.'  He  also,  alone  of  the  Evangelists,  in 
his  recital  of  the  miracle  of  the  raising  of  the  daughter  of 
Jairus,  has  taken  care  to  specify  the  fact  that  her  spirit 
came  back  to  her  again  (viii.  55^.  He  thus  corrected 
the  erroneous  notions  of  popular  belief  and  philosophical 
incredulity,  and  revealed  to  the  Greeks  the  great  doc- 
trinal and  practical  truth,  that  the  human  soul,  on  its 
separation  from  the  body  by  death,  passes  immediately 
into  a  place  of  joy  or  of  sorrow  ;  and  that  it  remains 
there  until  the  last  day,  when  it  will  be  reunited  to  the 
body,  and  be  admitted  to  the  full  fruition  of  heavenly 
bliss,  or  be  consigned  to  the  bitter  pains  of  everlasting 
woe."  1 

The  Greek  needed  to  have  the  way  opened  for  him  to 
God  and  heaven.  Luke,  therefore,  taught  him  how  com- 
munication is  to  be  had  with  God  and  the  world  of  invis- 
ible realities,  and  how  man  is  to  reach  up  after  the  per- 
fect manhood  here,  and  the  immortal  manhood  of  glory 
hereafter.  The  prayer  of  faith  is  the  great  agency.  The 
Greeks  must  be  taught  to  fall  down  on  their  knees  and 
pray,  and  so  to  reach  out  after  the  invisible  but  living 
Father.  "  Their  temples  were  not  houses  of  prayer. 
Their  worship  consisted  mainly  in  sacrifices,  or  in  relig- 
ious pomps  and  processions,  or  in  theatric  shows.  But  no 
ritual  or  liturgy  of  heathenism  has  been    preserved  to 

1  Wordsworth,  Introduction  to  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  p.  159. 


272        LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

US."  In  a  word,  the  Greek  mind  was  to  be  schooled  in 
the  duties  of  devotion.  Hence,  Christ  appears  as  the 
great  example  of  prayer  and  its  power  over  the  unseen 
world.  He  prays  at  his  baptism  and  the  Holy  Ghost  de- 
scends upon  him  (iii.  21).  He  withdraws  into  the  wil- 
derness and  prays  before  he  heals  the  palsied  man  and 
forgives  his  sins,  and  engages  in  the  conflict  with  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  (v.  16).  He  prays  all  night  and 
then  chooses  his  disciples  (vi.  12).  He  prays  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration  and  the  glory  of  heaven  comes 
down  upon  him  (ix.  29).  He  prays  alone  in  his  retire- 
ment from  his  public  work  and  the  disciples,  with  Peter 
in  the  lead,  make  their  first  full  confession  of  his 
Messiahship  (ix.  18).  He  prays  in  the  garden  before 
he  goes  to  the  cross ;  and,  being  in  an  agon}^  he  prays 
still  more  earnestly  and  an  angel  comes  down  to 
strengthen  him  (xxii.  41-45).  Even  on  the  cross  he 
prays  for  his  murderers  (xxiii.  34),  and  in  his  last 
words  commits  his  spirit  into  the  hands  of  his  Father 
(xxiii.  46). 

And  in  harmony  with  this  wonderful  example  is  the 
not  less  wonderful  teaching,  given  in  this  Gospel  only. 
Twice  is  he  represented  as  saying,  "  Men  ought  always 
to  pray."  The  effects  of  urgent  prayer  by  man  are  here 
exhibited,  not  only  by  the  promise,  "  Ask,  and  it  shall  be 
given  you,"  and  that  peculiar  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
for  the  asking  (xi.  1,  3)  ;  but  also  in  the  two  parables, 
of  the  friend  coming  for  bread  at  midnight  (xi.  5-8), 
and  the  widow  before  the  unjust  judge  (xviii.  1-8).  He 
teaches  how  to  pray  in  that  form  everywhere  known  as 
the  Lord's  Prayer  (xi.  1-4),  given  only  here  and  in 
Matthew;  and  by  that  inimitable  incident  of  the  two 
men  who  went  up  to  the  Temple  to  pray  (xviii.  9-14), 
Avhich  has,  perhaps,  had  a  more  powerful  influence  in 
directing  man  to  the  true  prayer  than  any  other  teaching 
of  the  Bible. 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  273 

But  the  Greek  needed  to  be  taught  that  prayer  is  more 
than  the  power  which  brings  heaven  down  to  men  ;  that 
it  is  also  the  power  by  which  rnan's  soul  is  to  go  out  in 
gratitude  toward  heaven,  and  by  which  it  is  to  mount  up 
toward  heaven.  "  The  duty  and  blessedness  of  thanks- 
giving to  God  for  benefits  received  from  him,  supplied 
another  subject  on  which  the  Gentile  world  needed  in- 
struction. They  '  glorified  him  not,^  neither  were  they 
'  thankful,^  is  the  sentence  pronounced  upon  theui  by  St. 
Paul.  A  beautiful  picture  of  gratitude,  and  of  its  re- 
ward, is  displayed  by  St.  Luke,  and  by  St.  Luke  alone, 
in  the  record  of  our  Lord's  miracle  of  mercy  wrought 
upon  the  ten  lepers  who  stood  afar  off  (xvii.  12).  The 
blessing  pronounced  upon  the  one  who  returned,  and  with 
a  loud  voice  glorified  Grod,  and  fell  down  at  his  feet,  giv- 
ing him  thanks,  is  made  more  striking  and  emphatic  by 
its  juxtaposition  with  the  divine  command,  '  Go  show 
yourselves  to  the  priests ' ;  and  brings  out  more  promi- 
nently the  paramount  obligation  and  exceeding  felicity  of 
the  moral  act  of  thanksgiving,  because  it  is  put  in  con- 
trast with  an  express  command  to  discharge  a  ritual  duty 
of  the  Levitical  law.  That,  also,  was  to  be  done  ;  but 
the  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  glorify  G-od'^  ^ 

Da  Costa  has  suggested  that,  if  it  be  true  that  the  dis- 
tinctive character  of  the  facts  and  doctrines  collected  by 
Luke  is,  that  they,  in  the  most  marked  and  profoundly 
interesting  manner,  place  over  against  the  depths  of 
man's  sinfulness,  wretchedness,  weakness,  and  poverty, 
in  strong  relief,  mercy,  compassion,  charity,  salvation, 
prayer  and  answers  to  prayer,  faith,  grace,  and  joy,  — 
then  there  is  no  word  better  fitted  to  convey  an  impres- 
sion of  all  this,  than  unction. 

"  The  Gospel  of  the  beloved  physician  and  Evangelist, 
the  fellow-laborer  of  Paul,  is  emphatically  a  Gospel  full 

1  "Wordsworth,  Introduction  to  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  p.  160. 
18 


274  LUKE,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR  THE   GREEK. 

of  unction.  But  that  very  word  involves  a  new  sugges- 
tion with  respect  to  the  harmonies  to  be  found  among 
these  writings.  Unction,  according  to  the  writers  of  the 
Old  Testament,  but  still  more  according  to  those  of  the 
New,  proceeds  from  the  Holy  Ghost.^^  ^ 

As  compared  with  the  first  Gospel,  or  the  second,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  third  gives  peculiar  prominence  to 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  his  gifts,  operations,  and  divine  per- 
sonality. The  very  opening  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  prom- 
ise made  to  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth,  declares  of  the  Bap- 
tist :  "  He  shall  be  great  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and 
shall  drink  neither  wine  nor  strong  drink ;  and  he  shall 
be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  from  his  mother's 
womb  "  (i.  15).  The  literal  accomplishment  of  this  pre- 
diction is  recorded  in  the  same  chapter  (i.  41-44).  The 
miraculous  conception  of  Jesus  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  recorded  with  peculiar  fullness  by  Luke  (i.  35)  ; 
Elizabeth,  Mary,  and  Zacharias,  being  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  spoke  and  sang  as  inspired  by  him  (i.  41,  46,  67). 
The  Holy  Ghost  was  upon  the  aged  Simeon,  and  revealed 
to  him  that  he  should  not  see  death  until  he  had  seen  the 
Lord's  Christ,  and  moved  him  to  go  into  the  Temple  just 
as  the  child  Jesus  was  brought  in  for  his  presentation 
according  to  the  law  (ii.  25-27).  Luke  emphasizes  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  a  bodily  shape,  at  the  bap- 
tism of  Jesus  (iii.  22),  and  the  fact  that  Jesus,  when  he 
went  to  the  temptation,  was/wZZ  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (iv.  1). 
So  Luke  alone,  in  the  encouragement  which  Jesus  gives 
to  prayer,  defines  the  good  things  which  Matthew  (vii. 
11)  declares  that  the  heavenly  Father  is  so  ready  to  give 
for  the  asking,  as  being  the  Holy  Ghost  (Luke  xi.  13). 

If  sinners  of  the  Greek  world  were  to  be  lifted  up  into 
union  with  God  and  the  things  invisible,  the  unction  from 
this  Holy  One  was  a  prime  necessity.     For   ages  they 

1  The  Four  Witnesses,  p.  198. 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  275 

had  enjoyed  the  inspiration  of  genius,  and  it  had  made 
them  learned,  and  wise,  and  eloquent,  and  cultivated,  and 
beautiful,  according  to  the  standards  of  this  world,  but 
it  had  brought  only  moral  wreck,  and  wretchedness,  and 
deformity,  and  death.  In  the  Holy  Ghost  Luke  reveals 
to  them  the  agent  who  shall  assist  them  to  attain  to  the 
heavenly  wisdom,  and  beauty,  and  perfection,  and  life. 

In  fine,  this  whole  Gospel  is  throughout  a  delineation 
of  the  way  for  the  sinner  of  the  Gentile  world  to  the  per- 
fect, holy,  blessed,  and  immortal  manhood,  which  was  to 
be  reached  by  the  grace  of  God  alone,  which  grace  could 
be  secured  by  the  prayer  of  faith  alone,  and  which  alone 
could  satisfy  the  Greek  soul.  Walking  in  the  way  of  the 
returning  prodigal,  wrestling  with  God  like  the  poor 
widow  and  the  humble  publican,  resting  in  the  Saviour 
like  the  penitent  thief  upon  the  cross,  treading  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  good  Samaritan  the  divine  man  of  Naza- 
reth, aided  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  the  chief  of  Gentile 
sinners  might  hope  to  reach  the  perfection  of  manhood 
on  earth,  and  to  be  lifted  with  Lazarus  to  Abraham's  bo- 
som, or  rapt  with  Jesus  himself  into  the  paradise  of  God. 

SUMMARY. 

Taking  into  account  all  the  various  facts  brought  to 
light  in  the  survey  of  the  third  Gospel,  and  giving  to 
them  their  due  weight,  its  peculiar  fitness  for  the  Greek 
mind  of  that  age  cannot  reasonably  be  denied. 

It  has  been  shown  to  be  a  fact  of  history,  that  Luke,  a 
Greek  in  birth,  character,  and  culture,  prepared  this 
Gospel,  with  the  aid  of  Paul,  for  Greek  readers,  the 
men  who  were  the  representatives  of  the  race  at  large. 
This  is  the  historical  basis  of  the  theory. 

The  adaptation  to  the  Greek  soul  and  its  needs  has 
been  shown  to  furnish  the  satisfactory  explanation  of 


276       LUKE,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  GREEK. 

the  various  peculiarities  of  this  Gospel,  —  in  its  general 
plan,  in  its  central  idea  and  general  movement,  in  its 
omissions  and  additions,  and  in  its  incidental  variations. 

In  fine,  it  is  not  too  much  to  affirm  that  the  third  Gos- 
pel is  so  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  Greek  soul  as  to 
prove  that  it  must  in  reality  have  been  prepared,  as  tra- 
dition testifies,  for  the  Greek  as  the  representative  of 
universal  humanity.  In  distinction  from  Matthew,  the 
Gospel  for  the  Jew,  the  man  of  prophecy ;  from  Mark, 
the  Gospel  for  the  Roman,  the  man  of  power  ;  and  from 
John,  the  Gospel  for  the  Christian,  the  man  of  faith ; 
Luke  is  the  Gospel  for  the  Greek,  the  world-man. 


PAET  Y. 


JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

"  Deep  strike  thy  roots,  0  heavenly  Vine, 
Within  our  earthly  sod, 
Most  human  and  yet  most  divine, 
The  flower  of  man  and  God ! 


"  We  faintly  hear,  we  dimly  see, 
In  differing  phrase  we  pray ; 
But,  dim  or  clear,  we  own  in  thee 
The  Light,  the  Truth,  the  Way  !  " 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier. 

"  But  as  many  as  received  hira,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the 
sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name :  which  were  born,  not 
of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God." 

John  i.  12,  13. 

"And  many  other  signs  truly  did  Jesus  in  the  presence  of  his  disciples, 
which  are  not  written  in  this  book :  but  these  are  written,  that  ye  might 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God;  and  that  believing  ye 
might  have  life  through  his  name."  John  xx.  30,  31. 

"  Ultimus  Joannes  apostolus  et  evangelista,  quera  Jesu  amavit  plurimuni, 
qui  supra  pectus  Domini  recumbens  (Joann.  xiii.  et  xxi.),  purissima  doc- 
trinarum  fluenta  potavit,  et  qui  solus  de  cruce  meruit  audire  :  Ecce  maler 
tua  (Joann.  xix.  27).  Is  cum  esset  in  Asia,  et  jam  tunc  haereticorum  se- 
mina  pullularent,  Cerinthi,  Ebiouis,  et  cseterorum  qui  negant  Christum 
in  came  venisse  (quos  et  ipse  in  epistola  sua  antichristos  vocat,  1  Joann. 
ii.  18),  et  apostolus  Paulus  frequenter  percutit  (Rom.  iii. ;  2  Cor.  v.),  coac- 
tus  est  ab  omnibus  pene  tunc  Asiae  episcopis,  et  multarum  Ecclesiarum 
legationibus,  de  divinitate  Salvatoris  altius  scribere,  et  ad  ipsum  (ut  ita 
dicam)  Dei  Verbum,  non  tarn  andaci,  quam  felici  temeritate  prorumpere," 

Jerome. 


278       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHUECH. 


^  CHAPTER  L 

HISTORICAL  VIEW  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  ADAPTATION  OF 
THE  FOURTH  GOSPEL. 

SECTION  L 

ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN   OF  THE    FOURTH   GOSPEL. 

What  was  the  actual  origin  of  the  Gospel  according 
to  John  ?  For  what  class  of  readers  was  it  originally 
designed  ?  It  is  clearly  a  fact  of  history  that  'the  fourth 
Gospel  was  prepared  and  given  to  the  Church  long  after 
the  other  three  had  been  completed,  and  with  a  different 
purpose. 

Witnesses.  Until  recently  no  testimony  of  Papias  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  the  fourth  Gospel  was  supposed  to 
be  extant,  as  none  has  been  preserved  by  Eusebius.  But 
during  the  visit  of  Professor  Tischendorf  to  Rome,  in 
1866,  an  extract  from  the  work  of  Papias  was  found  in  a 
Latin  manuscript  of  the  Gospels  in  the  Vatican  Library. 
In  this  manuscript,  in  a  prologue  to  the  Gospel  of  John, 
it  is  said  that  the  "  Gospel  of  John  was  proclaimed  and 
given  to  the  Church  while  he  was  yet  living,  —  as  Papias 
of  Hierapolis,  the  beloved  disciple  of  John,  declared  at 
the  close  of  the  fifth  book  of  his  exposition  of  the  oracles 
of  our  Lord."  ^ 

Of  almost  equal  antiquity  is  the  evidence  furnished  by 
the  fragment  of  the  Canon  of  Muratori,  or  the  list  of  ca- 
nonical books  of  the  Scriptures  which  Muratori  found 
in  an  old  manuscript  in  the  library  of  Milan.  "  That 
priceless  document  of  the  second  century,"  as  Van  Oos- 
terzee  styles  it,  declares  that  "  John  wrote  in  answer  to 

1  See  Tischendorf,  The  Origin  of  the  Gospels,  p.  199;  also  Lange's  Com, 
on  John,  p.  26. 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  279 

the  express  application  of  his  fellow  disciples  and  bish- 
ops." 1 

Irengeiis  makes  a  similar  statement  concerning  the  ori- 
gin of  the  Gospel  in  the  preaching  of  John.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  polemic  purpose  of  his  work,  he  adds  that 
one  object  of  the  Gospel  was  ''  to  remove  that  error 
which  by  Cerinthus  had  been  disseminated  among  men, 
and  a  long  time  previously  by  those  termed  Nicolaitans, 
who  are  an  offshoot  of  that  '  knowledge '  falsely  so- 
called,"  and  *'  to  put  an  end  to  all  such  doctrines,  and  to 
establish  the  rule  of  truth  in  the  Church."  He  says, 
"  John  excels  in  the  depth  of  divine  mysteries.  For  sixty 
years  after  the  Ascension  he  preached  orally,  till  the  end 
of  Domitian's  reign  ;  and  after  the  death  of  Domitian, 
having  returned  to  Ephesus,  he  was  induced  to  write 
(his  Gospel)  concerning  the  divinity  of  Christ,  co-eter- 
nal with  the  Father  ;  in  which  he  refutes  those  heretics, 
Cerinthus  and  the  Nicolaitans."  ^ 

Clement  of  Alexandria  gives  still  more  explicitly  the 
origin  of  the  fourth  Gospel,  in  the  celebrated  passage 
quoted  by  Eusebius.  He  used  to  say  that,  "  last  of  all, 
John,  observing  that  in  the  other  Gospels  those  things 
were  related  that  concerned  the  body  (of  Christ)  and 
being  persuaded  by  his  friends  and  also  moved  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  wrote  a  spiritual  Gospel."  ^ 

Eusebius,  the  historian,  besides  adopting  the  state- 
ments of  many  of  those  who  wrote  before  his  time,  and 
in  measure  summing  up  the  past  testimony,  makes  addi- 
tions of  his  own.  Among  other  things  he  gives  the  ori- 
gin of  John's  Gospel  substantially  as  follows  :  "  While 
Matthew  prepared  liis  Gospel  for  the  Hebrews,  and  Mark 
and  Luke  published  their  Gospels,  they  say  that  John  in 

1  Van  Oosterzee,  St.  John's  Gospel,  p.  104. 

2  Ireiiteus,  Against  Heresies,  in.  11. 

3  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  vi.  14. 


280       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

all  that  time  preached  without  writing.  When  the  books 
of  the  three  Evangelists  were  spread  throughout  the 
world,  and  came  into  his  hands,  he  approved  them  and 
acknowledged  them  a  true  testimony  ;  but  wished  that 
the  declaration  of  those  things  which  were  done  at  the 
first  preaching  of  Christ  had  been  made  in  their  books."  ^ 
He  therefore  wrote  his  Gospel  recording  the  ministry  in 
Judaea  and  the  early  miracles. 

Jerome,  in  the  same  passage  in  which  he  declares  the 
origin  of  the  first  three  Gospels,  testifies  no  less  explicitly 
of  the  fourth.  "  The  last  is  John,  the  Apostle  and 
Evangelist,  whom  Jesus  loved  the  most,  who,  reclining 
upon  the  bosom  of  our  Lord  (John  xiii.  and  xxi.),  drank 
the  purest  streams  of  doctrine  flowing  forth  from  it,  and 
who  alone  was  worthy  to  hear  from  the  cross  :  '  Behold 
thy  mother  '  (John  xix.  27).  When  he  was  in  Asia,  and 
the  seeds  of  the  heretics,  Cerinthus,  Ebion,  and  others, 
who  denied  that  Christ  has  come  in  the  flesh,  had  already 
sprung  up,  he  was  compelled  by  all  the  contemporary 
bishops  of  Asia,  and  by  messages  from  many  churches, 
to  write  more  full}^  concerning  the  Divinity  of  the  Sav- 
iour, and,  with  a  presumption  not  so  bold  as  happy  to 
reach,  so  to  speak,  in  his  presentation  of  the  Gospel,  the 
very  *  Word  of  God.'  "  2 

Gregory  Nazianzen  teaches  that  "  Matthew  wrote  the 
wonderful  works  of  Christ  for  the  Jews ;  Mark  for  the 
Romans ;  Luke  for  the  Greeks  ;  John,  a  herald  who 
reaches  the  very  heavens,  for  all."  ^ 

The  great  Augustine  writes :  "  The  three  former  Evan- 
gelists had  narrated  our  Lord's  temporal  acts  and  the 
sayings  that  were  of  most  avail  for  regulating  the  con- 
duct of  this  present  life,  and  which  specially  concerned 

1  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  iii.  21. 

2  Hieron.  Comment,  in  Evang.  Matth.  Procem. 

^  Greg.  Naz.  Carmin.  lib.  i.  sect.  i.  12,  vers.  31-33. 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  281 

the  inculcation  of  active  duties.  St.  John  relates  fewer 
acts  of  Christ,  but  is  more  full  and  minute  in  recording 
his  sayings,  particularly  concerning  the  unity  of  the  ever 
blessed  Trinity  and  the  felicity  of  life  everlasting,  and 
applies  himself  to  the  commendation  of  contemplative  vir- 
tue. Hence  the  three  other  living  creatures,  by  which 
the  three  other  Evangelists  are  symbolized  in  the  book 
of  Ezekiel  and  in  the  Apocalypse,  the  lion,  the  man,  and 
the  calf,  walk  on  the  earth,  because  the  three  other  Evan- 
gelists were  principally  occupied  in  relating  those  things 
which  Christ  wrought  in  the  flesh,  and  the  practical  pre- 
cepts which  he  delivered  to  those  who  are  in  the  flesh ; 
but  St.  John  soars,  like  the  eagle,  above  the  clouds  of  hu- 
man infirmity,  and  contemplates  the  light  of  never-wan- 
ing truth  with  the  keen  and  steadfast  eye  of  faith ;  he 
gazes  at  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  by  which  he  is  equal 
to  the  Father,  and  endeavors  to  present  it  in  his  Gos- 
pel."! 

Pertinent  Facts.  Such  testimonies  might  be  multi- 
plied indefinitely,  but  those  already  given  are  sufficient 
for  present  purposes.  They  justify  the  belief  in  the  fol- 
lowing facts :  that  the  Apostle  John  wrote  the  fourth 
Gospel  at  the  close  of  the  first  century ;  that  it  was  sub- 
stantially the  embodiment  of  his  preaching  to  the  early 
Church,  of  those  spiritual  doctrines  and  experiences  which 
had  come  from  his  most  intimate  communion  with  Jesus, 
and  which,  in  an  important  sense,  supplemented  the  other 
Gospels  ;  that  it  was  written,  not  for  the  Jew,  Greek,  or 
Roman,  as  such,  but  for  the  Church ;  and  that  it  was 
fitted  to  commend  Jesus  to  Christians  in  the  Church,  as 
the  divine  Son  of  God,  the  light  and  life  of  the  world. 

Some  of  these  facts  have  been  disputed  by  modern  writ- 
ers, who  have  introduced  their  own  crude  hypotheses  in 
their  places.     Especially  has  this  been  the  case  with  the 

^  August,  de  consens.  Evang. 


282  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   CHURCH. 

facts  concerning  the  date  of  tlie  origin  of  the  Gospel  and 
concerning  its  design. 

The  facts  themselves  may  be  better  understood  and  the 
false  hypotheses  more  fully  appreciated  in  the  light  of  the 
historic  changes  of  the  times.  It  was  almost  half  a  cent- 
ury after  the  Gospel  according  to  Luke,  the  last  of  the 
missionary  Gospels,  was  given  to  the  Greek  Gentile  world, 
that  John  wrote  the  Gospel  which  bears  his  name.  In 
this  interval  of  time  the  Apostles  had  preached  the  Gos- 
pel throughout  the  world,  and  they  had  all  fallen  asleep 
except  John.  Jerusalem  had  been  taken  by  the  Romans 
and  the  Jewish  system  overthrown.  The  Temple  had 
been  destroyed  and  its  sacrifices  and  ritual  had  been  abol- 
ished. The  great  telegraphic  system  which  had  been 
constituted  by  the  Temple  and  the  synagogues  had  passed 
away.  The  Christian  religion  as  embodied  in  the  Church 
of  Christ  had  taken  the  place  of  the  Jewish  and  was  ex- 
tending itself  into  all  lands. 

The  first  great  missionary  work  had  therefore  been 
done,  and  John  in  writing  his  Gospel  addressed  a  gener- 
ation that  had  been  taught  the  historical  truths  recorded 
by  the  other  Evangelists  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Epistles 
and  the  Apocalypse.  In  fact  they  had  in  their  hands  all 
the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  except  the 
fourth  Gospel,  and  were  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
doctrines,  the  sacraments,  and  the  worship  of  the  Chris- 
tian system. 

The  last  Evangelist,  therefore,  wrote  for  a  generation 
of  Christians.  The  earlier  Gospels,  intended  for  men 
unacquainted  with  Christian  truth,  intentionally  presented 
to  their  readers  only  the  simpler  ideas  concerning  God 
and  Christ  and  redemption  ;  but  John,  writing  for  the 
Christian  Church  as  a  whole  and  for  the  world  at  large, 
could  take  for  granted  their  familiarity  with  the  earlier 
truths,  and  present  the  profounder  aspects  of  the  Gospel 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  283 

for  which  their  previous  training  had  filled  the  entire 
Christian  Church  with  an  intense  longing. 

Design.  In  the  light  of  this  unique  history  and  expe- 
rience of  the  age  and  the  Church  the  design  of  the  fourth 
Evangelist  may  best  be  made  clear.  Various  aims  have 
been  attributed  to  him,  most  of  which  find  some  show  of 
justification  in  the  statements  of  the  early  writers. 

It  has  been  held  by  some  that  the  original  design  of 
this  Gospel  was  polemic  or  controversial.  Various  here- 
sies arose  in  the  early  Church  even  before  the  death  of 
the  last  of  the  Apostles.  Prominent  among  these  was 
Gnosticism,  which  taught  that  all  natures,  intelligent  and 
material,  are  derived  by  successive  emanations  from  the 
Deity.  Against  these,  we  are  told,  John  was  commis- 
sioned to  write.  In  fact,  Irenaeus  expressly  says  that  it 
was  John's  purpose  to  confute  the  Gnostic  Cerinthus. 

Now  it  is  obvious  that  in  any  full  development  and 
presentation  of  the  truth  it  must  come  into  necessary  an- 
tagonism with  error  in  all  its  forms,  so  that  in  John's 
Gospel  we  cannot  fail  to  find  an  express  opposition  to  all 
the  theological  and  christological  heresies  of  that  age  and 
of  later  ages.  It  is  certainly  true,  in  a  very  intelligible 
sense,  that  this  Gospel  was  designed  to  meet  these  her- 
esies. It  may  even  be  admitted  that  one  object  before 
the  mind  of  the  Evangelist  was  to  meet  the  particular 
heresy  of  Cerinthus.  But,  as  Tholuck  has  well  remarked, 
there  is  certainly  no  pervading  controversial  aim.  Still 
more  to  our  point  is  it  that  John  distinctly  declares  his 
chief  aim  to  be  a  different  one  (xx.  30,  31).  The  con- 
troversial aim  must,  therefore,  have  been  a  subordinate 
one. 

It  has  been  held  by  others  that  the  main  object  of  the 
Evangelist  was  to  supplement  what  had  been  already 
written.  He  undertook  to  supply  the  facts  passed  over 
in  the  other  Gospels. 


284       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

That  John  assumes  that  his  readers  are  familiar  with 
the  ordinary  traditional  circle  of  Gospel  truth  is  clear 
from  many  passages  that  presuppose  the  accounts  of 
events  as  given  in  the  other  Gospels.  It  is  evident,  for 
example,  that  his  declaration :  "  For  John  was  not  yet 
cast  into  prison  "  (iii.  24),  assumes  the  knowledge,  on 
the  part  of  his  readers,  of  the  account  of  the  imprison- 
ment of  the  Baptist  given  by  Matthew  (xi.),  Mark  (vi. 
14-29),  and  Luke  (iii.  20)  .^ 

But  that  the  historical  completion  of  the  three  synopti- 
cal Gospels  cannot  be  admitted  to  have  been  the  specific 
aim  of  John  may  be  made  equally  clear.  The  unity  of 
the  Gospel  proves  it  impossible.  ''  This  Gospel,"  says 
Hase,  "  is  no  mere  patchwork  to  fill  up  a  vacant  space." 
"  Not  even  as  a  distinct  subordinate  purpose,"  says  Tho- 
luck,  "  kept  in  view  by  the  Evangelist  throughout,  can  we 
perceive  a  design  of  filling  out  what  had  been  omitted 
by  the  others.  It  is  in  conflict  with  such  a  view,  in  fact, 
that  so  much  has  been  embraced  in  the  fourth  Gospel 
which  is  also  found  in  the  first  three  ;  that  not  a  few  of  at 
least  apj)arent  contradictions  to  them  occur,  which  might 
have  been  harmonized ;  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  ap- 
parent contradictions  between  the  synoptical  Gospels  are 
not  cleared  up ;  that,  at  the  point  where  he  declares  his 
purpose  (xx.  30)  some  statement  of  this  aim  might 
justly  be  looked  for ;  and,  finally,  that  to  embrace  this 
view  strictly  would  force  us  to  think  of  a  literary  assiduity 
of  a  comparatively  modern  stamp."  The  fact  is  that  John 
adds  but  very  little  of  purely  historical  matter,  except 
the  chronological  outline  which  has  been  seen  to  be  of 
such  great  value.     But  besides  this  there  must  be  noted 

1  Compare  also  John  xi.  2  with  Matt.  xxvi.  6-13,  and  Mark  xiv.  3-9; 
John  i.  32  with  Matt.  iii.  13-17,  Mark  i.  9-11,  and  Luke  iii.  21,  22;  John 
xviii.  2,  3  with  Matt.  xxvi.  14,  15,  Mark  xiv.  10,  11,  Luke  xxii.  3-6  ;  John 
xxi.  15  and  xiii.  36-38  with  Matt.  xxvi.  33,  and  Mark  xiv.  29,  for  further 
illustrations  of  such  assumptions. 


ORIGIN   AND   DESIGN.  285 

an  entire  absence  of  any  express  allusion  to  the  other 
Evangelists,  which  is  simply  unaccountahle  on  the  hy- 
pothesis that  John  was  a  historical  supplementer. 

These  hypotheses  take  into  account  only  the  very 
fewest  of  the  facts,  in  short,  scarcely  more  than  a  single 
fact  each.  The  true  theory  must  be  broad  enough  to 
account  for  all  the  peculiar  facts  of  the  Gospel.  The  view 
drawn  from  history  meets  these  demands.  The  fourth 
Gospel  was  written  by  John  in  response  to  an  appeal 
from  the  Church  —  already  possessing  the  other  Gospels 
—  for  a  spiritual  Gospel,  and  written  with  the  view  of 
furthering  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church. 

This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  Gospel  actually 
meets  the  theological  and  christological  heresies  of  that 
and  after  ages,  —  since  a  full  development  of  Christian 
truth  could  not  fail  to  do  this.  It  explains  the  diverse 
and  supplementary  nature  of  the  Gospel,  —  since  there 
was  no  need  for  the  reiteration  of  the  facts  already 
recorded  by  the  other  Evangelists,  and  none  for  the 
merely  missionary  aspects  of  Gospel  truth  ;  while  there 
was  a  demand  for  a  Christian  theology  from  the  lips  of 
Christ  himself. 

Accordingly  the  Church  in  all  ages  has  regarded  this 
as  distinctively  the  spiritual  Gospel,  the  special  Gospel 
treasure  for  the  Christian.  This  view,  impressed  by  the 
Gospel  itself,  has  been  embodied  by  leading  writers  in 
the  different  ages. 

Says  Origen  :  "  We  may  presume  then  to  say  that  the 
Gospels  are  the  first-fruits  of  all  the  Scriptures,  and  the 
first-fruits  of  the  Gospels  is  that  of  John,  into  whose 
meaning  no  man  can  enter,  unless  he  has  reclined  upon 
the  bosom  of  Jesus,  ....  and,  as  it  were,  become  a 
second  John." 

Says  Augustine :  "  In  the  four  Gospels,  or  rather  in 
the  four  books  of  the  one  Gospel,  the  Apostle  St.  John, 


286       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

not  undeservedly  with  reference  to  liis  spiritual  under- 
standing compared  to  an  eagle,  has  lifted  higher,  and 
far  more  sublimely  than  the  other  three,  his  procla- 
mation, and  in  lifting  it  up  he  has  wished  our  hearts  also 
to  be  lifted.  For  the  other  three  Evangelists  walked,  so 
to  speak,  on  earth  with  our  Lord  as  man  —  of  his  divinity 
they  said  but  few  things  ;  but  John,  as  if  it  oppressed 
him  to  walk  on  earth,  has  opened  his  words  as  it  were 
with  a  burst  of  thunder,  has  lifted  himself  not  only  above 
earth  and  every  sphere  of  sky  and  heaven,  but  even  above 
every  host  of  angels,  and  every  order  of  invisible  powers, 
and  reaches  to  him  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  as  he 
says  :  '  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,'  etc.  He  pro- 
claims other  things  in  keeping  with  this  great  sublimity 
with  which  he  begins,  and  speaks  of  the  divinity  of  our 
Lord  as  no  other  person  has  spoken.  He  pours  forth 
that  into  which  he  had  drunk.  For  not  without  a  reason 
is  it  mentioned  in  his  own  Gospel,  that  at  the  feast  he 
reclined  upon  the  bosom  of  his  Lord.  From  that  bosom 
he  had  in  secrecy  drunk  in  the  stream,  but  what  he  drank 
in  secret  he  poured  forth  openly." 

Li  short  no  Christian  can  read  the  Gospel  according 
to  John  without  being  impressed  with  its  preeminently 
spiritual  character.  Accordingly,  in  all  ages  the  Church 
has  regarded  it  as  her  chief  Gospel  treasure. 

Nor  can  it  be  reasonably  denied  that  this  view  is  more 
in  harmony  with  the  testimony  which  has  been  brought 
from  the  early  Christian  writers.  It  will  subsequently 
be  seen  to  be  more  in  accordance  with  the  structure  and 
spirit  of  the  fourth  Gospel  itself. 

Date.  Nor  is  there  any  good  reason  for  doubting  that 
John's  Gospel  was  written  at  the  close  of  the  first  cent- 
ury. The  testimony  of  the  Fathers  is*  clear  on  this 
point.  The  progress  made  by  the  Christian  Church 
rendered  the  Gospel  necessary  at  that  time.     The  argu- 


THE   CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.^  287 

ment  for  a  later  date,  drawn  from  the  character  of  the 
doctrine  embodied  in  it,  is  utterly  baseless.  An  able 
writer  has  shown  that  the  doctrinal  system  of  John  is 
precisely  that  of  the  Epistles,  while  it  is  utterly  unlike 
the  teachings  of  the  writers  of  the  second  century  !  ^ 

To  the  candid  historical  critic  the  main  facts  have, 
therefore,  the  very  firmest  foundation.  It  will  at  once  ap- 
pear that  the  witnesses  cited  are  substantially  the  same  as 
those  on  whom  we  depend  for  our  knowledge  of  the  origin 
of  the  first  three  Gospels,  and  on  whom  the  Church  de- 
pends chiefly  for  the  establishment  of  the  canon  of  the 
Scriptures.  Their  statements  were  received  without 
question  in  the  early  Church.  There  is  no  sufficient 
reason  for  doubting  them,  since  the  witnesses  were  of  the 
highest  character,  had  both  the  ability  and  opportunity 
to  ascertain  the  facts,  and  had  no  motive  for  perpetrating 
or  perpetuating  such  a  fraud  as  would  be  implied  by  the 
falsity  of  their  statements. 

It  cannot  be  maintained  with  even  a  show  of  reason 
that  their  statements  are  not  in  accordance  with  historj^, 
and  that  they  did  not  arise  out  of  history.  John,  un- 
doubtedly, prepared  his  Gospel  for  the  Church,  for  the 
purpose  of  presenting  more  fully  to  the  Christian  heart 
the  character,  work,  and  doctrine  of  Jesus  as  the  light 
and  life. 

SECTION  IL 
THE   CHARACTER   AND    NEEDS    OF   THE   CHRISTIAN. 

If,  as  has  been  seen,  the  fourth  Gospel  had  its  origin 
in  the  preaching  of  John,  after  the  missionary  Gospels 
had  been  preached  and  the  Church  established  through- 
out the  world,  then  the  character  and  needs  of  the  Chris- 
tian must  furnish  the  key  to  this  Gospel. 

1  See  The  Doctrinal  System  of  St.  John,  considered  as  Evidence  for  the 
Date  of  his  Gospel,  by  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Lias,  M.  A. 


288       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

What  manner  of  man  was  the  Christian  ?  What  were 
his  spiritual  needs  ?  The  answer  to  these  questions  will 
cast  light  upon  the  Gospel  prepared  under  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  Church. 

I.   The  Christian. 

The  Christian  is  readily  distinguished  by  marked 
characteristics  from  the  natural  man,  whether  Jew,  Ro- 
man, or  Greek.  The  Christian  is  the  man  who  has  heard 
the  great  facts  of  the  Gospel,  and  who  has  accepted 
Jesus  Christ  as  his  Saviour.  He  has  attained,  through 
faith  in  Christ,  to  a  new  life  which  is  different  in  its 
origin,  motives,  and  aims,  from  the  earthly  life.  This 
life,  originating  in  divine  power,  leads  him  to  complete 
submission  to  Christ  and  to  entire  devotion  to  him  in  the 
cause  of  the  Gospel.  He  lives  this  spiritual  life  of  faith 
and  obedience  by  fixing  his  eyes  upon  the  central  fact  of 
the  cross,  and  through  guidance  and  help  given  in  the 
Scriptures  or  by  the  Holy  Ghost  directly  from  above, 
which  guidance  and  help  he  ever  longs  to  receive  in  in- 
creased measure.  He  is  reaching  out  toward  that  ever- 
lasting life  of  glory  with  Christ,  of  which  this  new  life 
is  the  beginning. 

Out  of  these  peculiar  characteristics  arose  those  spiritual 
needs  of  the  Christian  Church  which  were  to  be  met  by 
the  Evangelist.  By  the  aid  of  them  must  be  sought  the 
full  understanding  of  the  Gospel  prejDared  by  John. 

The  Man  of  Faith.  The  starting  point  in  the  Chris- 
tian life  is  found  in  the  personal  acceptance  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  Saviour  from  sin.  This  act  involves  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  the  relation  of  man  as  a  sinner 
to  God,  and  of  the  incarnation,  work,  death,  and  resur- 
rection of  Jesus ;  the  belief  in  his  divine  character  and 
mission  ;  and  the  practical  resting  of  the  soul  on  him  for 
salvation.     To  this  act  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles  and 


THE   CHRISTIAN   CHARACTER.  289 

the  promulgation  of  the  first  three  Gospels  brought  that 
portion  of  the  ancient  world  which  at  the  close  of  the 
first  century  was  found  full}^  prepared  for  God's  deliv- 
erer. By  the  grace  of  God  the  true  Israelite  accepted 
Jesus  as  his  Saviour,  because  he  found  in  him  the  Mes- 
siah, the  fulfiller  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  the  Em- 
manuel who  was  promised  for  his  salvation  ;  the  true 
Roman,  because  he  found  in  him  the  Son  of  God,  the 
almighty  and  universal  conqueror,  who  was  able  to  save 
him  ;  the  true  Greek,  because  he  met  the  Greek  idea  of 
the  perfect  and  divine  man,  who  longed  for  the  salvation 
of  the  race,  and  who  had  the  power  to  save  it.  Thus  the 
true  men  of  all  the  races  found  in  him  the  satisfaction  of 
their  spiritual  wants  ;  and  in  the  very  act  of  accepting 
him  they  were  transformed  in  character  and  life. 

The  Man  of  the  New  Life.  The  transformation,  re- 
sulting from  the  acceptance  of  Christ,  introduced  the 
Christian  of  whatsoever  national  extraction  to  a  new  life, 
different  in  its  origin  and  motives  from  the  mere  worldly 
life.  The  latter  has  its  source  in  the  natural  birth  ;  the 
former  in  the  birth  from  heaven  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  And 
when  this  new  life  in  Christ  is  once  begun,  its  motive 
forces  are  found  in  things  heavenly  rather  than  in  things 
earthly.  The  Jew  lost  his  narrow  Jewish  ideas,  and 
turned  from  the  prophecies  of  Christ  and  the  forms  and 
ceremonies  to  Christ  himself ;  the  Roman  ceased  to  care 
for  the  temporal  king  in  finding  the  spiritual  king  and 
deliverer.  The  Greek  parted  with  his  low,  humanita- 
rian ideas  of  perfection,  in  having  his  eyes  opened  to  see 
the  divine  and  universal  man.  They  were  all  brought 
into  one  brotherhood,  all  alike  recognizing  in  Jesus  the 
elder  brother,  the  spring  and  moving  power  of  their  new 
life,  and  being  all  alike  linked  in  living  union  with  him 
through  faith. 

The  Man  of  Christ.     The  Christian  is  the  man  who 

19 


290       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

finds  the  aim  of  his  life  in  Christ,  and  who  can  say  with 
Paul  "  to  me  to  live  is  Christ."  If  by  his  natural  birth 
a  Jew,  he  yet  sees  that  the  Jewish  life  of  form  and  cere- 
mony is  no  longer  worthy  of  his  soul,  since  in  Christ's 
own  example  is  the  true  ritual ;  if  a  Roman,  he  sees  that 
the  Roman  life  of  earthly  industry  and  conquest  and 
supremacy  is  no  longer  worthy  of  him,  since  in  Christ's 
gracious  work,  in  his  victory  over  sin,  and  in  his  king- 
dom are  to  be  found  the  true  work  and  conquest  and 
empire ;  if  a  Greek,  he  sees  that  the  Greek  life  of  per- 
fection sought  through  philosophy  and  art.  is  no  longer 
worthy  of  him,  since  through  faith  in  Christ,  whose  rea- 
son is  divine,  and  whose  beauty  is  divine  moral  excellence, 
is  to  be  realized  the  perfection  of  humanity.  Whatever 
his  earthly  nativity  he  follows  Christ,  obej^s  him,  aims  to 
become  like  him,  and  devotes  himself  to  him  in  the  work 
of  advancing  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  conquest  of  sin- 
ners. He  finds  the  centre  of  his  system  of  faith  and  life, 
and  the  centre  of  his  Christ  too,  in  the  cross.  The  in- 
carnate Son  of  God,  crucified  and  raised  from  the  dead, 
is  the  ground  of  all  his  hopes.  He  receives  the  remis- 
sion of  sin  through  the  blood  of  Christ.  By  faith  he  eats 
of  the  broken  body  of  Christ,  and  drinks  of  his  shed  blood, 
partakes  of  the  boundless  grace  of  God  to  sinners,  and 
especially  is  made  the  recipient  of  the  Holy  Ghost  who 
is  given  to  enlighten,  renew,  and  sanctify  the  children  of 
God. 

The  Man  of  Endless  Divine  Life.  The  Christian  is 
the  man  who  expects  an  everlasting  life  with  Christ  be- 
yond this  present  life  on  earth.  In  Christ  life  and  im- 
mortality are  brought  to  light.  As  by  faith  in  him  the 
life  is  begun,  so  by  continual  faith  in  him  it  is  sustained 
and  nourished  on  earth,  and  by  faith  in  him  as  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life  it  is  completed  in  the  life  of  immor- 
tality.    Even  while  waiting  for  the  revelation   of   the 


THE   CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER.  291 

glory,  he  is  evermore  found  living  for  the  invisible,  spir- 
itual, and  eternal,  evermore  reaching  out  after  communion 
with  Christ  his  risen,  ascended,  and  glorified  Lord. 

II.    The  Key  to  John's   Gospel. 

If  the  character  of  the  Christian  is  such  as  it  has  been 
represented,  it  will  furnish  the  key  to  the  Gospel  intended 
for  him.     That  Gospel  must  be  suited  to  meet  his  wants. 

It  was  an  age  of  great  intellectual  activity  in  which 
John  wrote  his  Gospel.  Reason  was  asserting  its  power 
and  speculation  was  rife,  and  men  who  professed  the 
faith  in  Christ  were  called  to  combat  the  errors  of  phil- 
osophy. It  was  an  age  of  equally  great  worldliness,  when 
there  was  need  of  asserting  and  vindicating  the  spiritu- 
ality of  Christianity  against  the  prevailing  earthliness. 

The  Gospel  for  the  Christian  must  present  Jesus  as  the 
revelation  of  God,  —  the  word,  the  truth,  the  light,  which 
the  Christian  needs  in  the  new  life.  It  must  make  plain 
all  the  great  essential  matters  concerning  the  Christian 
course,  so  that  in  its  light  he  may  see  clearly  to  avoid 
the  danger,  error,  and  death.  It  is  obvious  that  the  mis- 
sionary Gospels  do  not  deal  largely  with  these  subjects, 
—  do  not  deal  with  them  at  all,  except  as  they  have  to 
do  with  leading  men  to  the  first  acceptance  of  Christ  and 
the  beginning  of  the  divine  life  in  him.  They  leave  tlie 
wants  of  this  higher  and  peculiarly  spiritual  sphere  for 
some  later  hand  to  supply.  The  fourth  Gospel  must  in 
this  sense  be  the  supplement  of  the  first  three. 

Most  assuredly,  if  the  Christian  is  to  be  in  any  high 
degree  intelligent,  he  especially  needs  light  concerning 
the  divine  life  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  he  has  under- 
taken to  live,  —  concerning  its  nature  ;  its  relations  to 
God  and  Christ ;  its  origin  and  beginnings  ;  the  modes  of 
sustaining  it  to  its  full  vigor ;  its  mission  in  this  world 
and  its  issues,  after  the  death  of  the  body,  in  the  regions 


292  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   CHURCH. 

of  immortality.     These  spiritual  needs  become  tlie  great 
ones  with  the  Christian. 

To  the  Christian  these  are  the  credentials  of  Jesus,  no 
less  essential  than  prophecy  to  the  Jew,  or  power  to  the 
Roman,  or  the  perfection  of  manhood  to  the  Greek. 
Without  them  his  most  pressing  needs  would  be  left  un- 
supplied.  There  could,  therefore,  be  no  Gospel  for  him  in 
any  production  which  should  omit  or  pass  slightly  over 
these  grand  themes  of  the  divine  and  immortal  life  of 
faith.  The  Christian  soul  of  that  age  —  essentially  the 
same  as  in  all  other  ages  —  furnishes  the  key  to  the 
fourth  Gospel. 

SECTION  III. 

THE   AUTHORSHIP   OF  THE  FOURTH  GOSPEL. 

The  author  of  the  fourth  Gospel  was  peculiarly  fitted 
to  prepare  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  for  the  Christian. 
There  is  no  valid  reason  for  doubting  that  the  Church 
from  the  beginning  received  it  as  the  production  of  the 
Apostle  John. 

Modern  Doubts.  It  is  only  of  late  years  that  at- 
tempts have  been  made  to  destroy  the  faith  in  its  genu- 
ineness. Individual  skeptics,  at  the  close  of  the  last  cent- 
ury, denied  that  it  was  the  work  of  John  ;  but  their  attack 
merited  and  received  but  little  attention.  Bretschneider, 
by  his  "  Probabilia,"  published  in  1820  with  the  special 
"  view  of  anew  exciting  and  extending  inquiry  into  the 
genuineness  of  the  Johannine  writings,"  first  made  the 
serious  discussion  of  the  question  necessary. 

The  assault  has  since  been  renewed  by  the  Tiibingen 
school  of  critics  with  Baur  at  their  head,  and  has  lately 
given  rise  to  a  more  earnest  and  exciting  controversy. 
Assuming  "  the  radical  difference  and  hostility  between 
the  Jewish  and  Gentile  types  of  Christianity,"  —  between 


THE   AUTHORSHIP.  293 

the  party  of  Peter  and  the  other  disciples,  and  that  of 
Paul,  —  these  assailants  represent  John's  Gospel  as  having 
been  written  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century  by 
some  Gentile  Christian,  who  aimed  to  bring  about  peace 
between  the  two  hostile  parties,  and  forged  the  name  of 
John  to  his  writing  in  order  to  give  it  the  weight  of  that 
Apostle's  character.  Hence  John's  Gospel  so-called  is  to 
be  rejected.  The  difference  between  it  and  the  first 
three  Gospels  is  made  an  additional  argument  for  its 
rejection. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  at  length  into  the  consid- 
eration of  the  genuineness  of  the  fourth  Gospel.  Those 
who  wish  to  read  a  thorough  discussion  of  the  questions 
involved  may  best  gratify  their  desire  by  consulting  some 
one  or  more  of  the  able  and  popular  works  devoted  to 
the  subject. 

It  is  sufficient  to  note  that  the  arguments  adduced 
should  have  little  weight  with  Christian  men  of  average 
common  sense.  They  have  no  basis  of  fact  to  rest  upon. 
The  clear  testimony  of  all  Christian  antiquity  is  against 
them.  John's  Gospel  can  be  traced  back  to  the  close  of 
the  first  century.  It  exactly  accords  with  his  character. 
The  theological  quarrel  between  the  Petrine  and  Pauline 
parties  in  the  early  Church  is  a  myth.  Moreover  the 
historic  view,  which  it  is  the  object  of  the  present  work 
to  set  forth  and  vindicate,  fully  explains  the  characteris- 
tic differences  of  John's  Gospel  from  the  others,  and 
shows  these  differences  to  have  been  a  necessity  if  the 
practical  wants  of  the  Church,  in  that  age,  and  in  all  sub- 
sequent ages,  were  to  be  met  by  the  Gospel.  So  manifold 
and  conclusive  are  the  evidences  of  the  authorship,  that 
it  would  be  as  easy,  perhaps  easier,  to  prove  that  Shake- 
speare did  not  write  "  Hamlet,"  or  even  that  Milton  did 
not  write  ''  Paradise  Lost,"  or  that  Bacon  did  not  write 
the  "  Novum  Organum,"  as  to  prove  that  the  Apostle 
John  did  not  write  the  fourth  Gospel. 


294       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

Character  and  Career.  That  John  was  just  the  man 
to  give  shape  to  the  Gospel  for  the  Christian  Church  may 
readily  be  shown.  .  His  birth  and  early  history ;  his  char- 
acter as  transformed  and  exalted  by  the  power  of  the 
Gospel ;  his  intimate  union  with  his  Master  and  his  in- 
tense sympathy  with  him  ;  his  long  and  profound  Chris- 
tian experience  and  his  wide  acquaintance  with  the  needs 
of  the  Church,  combined  to  make  him  the  fit  instrument 
for  the  work  to  which  he  was  divinely  called. 

The  history  of  John,  so  far  as  it  has  been  recorded,  is 
too  familiar  to  require  extended  rehearsal.  He  appears 
to  have  been  born  in  Bethsaida  of  Galilee.  His  father, 
Zebedee,  was  a  respectable  and  well-to-do  fisherman  on 
the  Sea  of  Galilee  able  to  possess  his  own  boats  and  to 
have  hired  servants.  His  mother,  Salome,  was  one  of 
those  women  who  ministered  to  Jesus  of  their  wealth, 
and  who  followed  him  to  the  cross.  She  went  with 
the  Marys  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection  to  the 
sepulchre  to  embalm  the  body  of  Jesus.  Born  of  such 
a  mother,  it  is  not  surprising  that  John  early  became  one 
of  the  disciples  of  the  Baptist,  nor  that  when  the  Baptist 
introduced  him  to  Jesus  he  at  once  followed  him  as  the 
Messiah. 

Perhaps  the  character  of  no  scriptural  personage  has 
been  more  misunderstood  than  that  of  "  the  beloved  dis- 
ciple." The  idea  formed  of  him  is  that  he  was  a  "  soft, 
tender,  almost  femininely  affectionate  spirit."  So  the 
painters  have  manifestly  conceived  him,  and  so  the 
Church  has  too  generally  regarded  him.  Nothing  could 
be  farther  from  the  truth.  Such  a  character  would  be 
poorly  as  possible  fitted  to  prepare  a  Gospel  for  the 
Church.  It  has  only  the  elements  that  win  from  strong 
and  earnest  souls  a  mild  contempt.  John  was  in  fact  the 
very  best  evidence,  to  the  men  of  his  day,  of  the  power 
of  the  Gospel  to  harmonize  the  most  different  and  appar- 
ently contradictory  elements  of  character. 


THE   AUTHORSHIP.  295 

Says  a  late  writer  :  "  The  character  of  John  is  com- 
posed of  two  vastly  differing  elements,  rarely  found  in 
such  combination  except  under  the  transforming  power 
of  the  Christian  spirit,  but  found  there  in  its  perfection 
and  consummation.  These  two  elements  are,  very  great 
masculine  strength,  joined  with  affections  so  overflowing 
and  tender,  that  the  strength  is  concealed  under  their 
profusion,  except  when  occasions  and  emergencies  bring 
it  to  the  test.  The  granite  is  hidden  under  the  tendrils 
that  overhang  it  with  flowers.  It  is  only  by  assuming 
that  these  two  elements  are  inconsistent  with  each  other 
that  the  critics  have  raised  their  objections  against  the 
congruity  of  the  canonical  Johannean  writings,  whereas 
to  blend  them  together  is  the  great  achievement  of  Chris- 
tianity in  human  nature,  and  the  blending  is  most  per- 
fect when  the  disciple  leans  most  intimately  on  the  bosom 
of  his  Lord.  The  combination  does  not  impair  the  mas- 
culine intrepidity,  but  preserves  and  tones  it,  though  con- 
cealing it  sometimes  under  the  mildest  of  womanly  gen- 
tleness." ^ 

That  this  is  the  true  view  may  readily  be  verified. 
The  rugged  nature  of  John  —  sometimes  verging  almost 
upon  savageness  —  was  embodied  in  the  name,  "  Boaner- 
ges," sons  of  thunder,  given  to  him  with  his  brother 
(Mark  iii.  17)  ;  and  was  clearly  manifested  in  the  zeal 
which  prompted  him  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven  on 
the  Samaritan  city  that  refused  them  its  hospitality 
(Luke  ix.  54).  It  appeared  in  the  ambition  which  led 
him,  with  his  brother,  to  seek,  through  their  mother,  the 
chief  places  in  the  magnificent  temporal  kingdom  which 
the  disciples  expected  (Matt.  xx.  21 ;  Mark  x.  37)  ;  in 
the  fact  that  when,  at  the  arrest  of  Jesus  in  Gethsemane, 
the  other  disciples  fled  for  their  lives,  the  youthful  John 
kept  close  to  his  master,  and  followed  on  to  the  judgment 

1  Sears,  The  Fourth  Gospel  the  Heart  of  Christ,  p.  65. 


296       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

scene  ( Jolin  xviii.  15) ;  in  the  fact  that  at  the  cross,  amid 
the  raging  of  the  multitudes,  John  alone  was  standing 
close  b}^  ready  to  receive  the  dying  message  from  his 
Lord  (John  xix.  26).  Later,  it  is  John  who,  in  his 
Epistles,  hurls  the  most  terrible  anathemas  at  the  false 
teachers  of  his  day ;  and  who,  in  the  Apocalypse,  pens 
the  visions  of  the  melting  universe,  of  the  assembling 
judgment,  and  of  lost  souls. 

To  all  this  terrible  power,  which,  unsanctified  might 
have  made  almost  a  demon,  his  writings  and  history  show 
that  he  joined  a  depth  of  tenderness  equally  marvelous, 
—  the  tenderness  of  no  sentimentalist  or  weakling  but 
that  of  one  of  the  very  strongest  natures. 

Special  Fitness.  Such  a  nature,  under  the  sanctify- 
ing power  of  that  divine  grace  which  softened  the  rug- 
gedness  and  exalted  the  tenderness,  was  just  the  nature 
needed  in  the  man  who  was  to  prepare  and  present  the 
Gospel  truth  that  should  lead  the  Christian  in  making 
the  greatest  attainments  in  the  divine  life.  He  was  able 
to  understand  the  heights  and  depths  of  human  tempta- 
tions and  trials,  of  human  wants  along  the  line  of  Chris- 
tian struggle  and  endeavor,  and  to  treasure  up  from  his 
Master's  lips  and  appreciate  the  divine  doctrines  and  mo- 
tives needed  to  sustain  and  cheer  the  Christian  onward 
and  upward  toward  the  heavenly  goal. 

It  might  almost  be  said  tliat  no  other  man  appears 
in  the  original  college  of  Apostles  who  could  possibly 
have  accomplished  this  great  task  for  the  Church  with- 
out a  radical  change  of  nature.  Most  certainly  Mat- 
thew had  too  exclusive  a  regard  to  prophecy  to  do  such 
a  work,  and  Peter  and  Mark  were  too  exclusively  active. 
John  alone  had  that  combination  of  intuition  and  rea- 
son tliat  was  needed,  and  that  fitted  him  for  the  work 
provided  he  could  secure  the  other  special  requisites  for 
it,  —  such   as   close   union    with   Christ   and   sympathy 


THE   AUTHORSHIP.  297 

with  him,  and  large  acquaintance  with  the  needs  of  the 
Church. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  he  had  the  requisite  union 
and  sympathy  with  Christ. 

He  belonged  to  that  inner  circle,  consisting  of  himself, 
Peter,  and  James,  to  the  members  of  which  alone  Jesus 
permitted  a  near  view  of  the  great  crises  in  his  life  and 
work  on  earth,  —  such  as  the  transfiguration  and  the 
agony.  Among  the  three  he  was  the  beloved  disciple, 
the  disciple  who  leaned  on  Jesus'  breast  at  the  table  at 
the  last  supper.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  follow  Jesus, 
and  he  was  the  one  to  cling  most  closely  to  him  to  the  end. 
To  him  was  intrusted  the  mother,  with  whom  in  his  earthly 
career  Jesus  had  been  so  closely  bound,  and  from  the  af- 
fectinor  hour  on  the  cross  to  the  death  of  her  whose  heart 
had  been  pierced  with  many  sorrows,  Mary  and  John 
were  as  mother  and  son. 

But  more  important  still  was  the  intense  sympathy  of 
the  beloved  disciple  with  his  divine  Master  in  his  highest 
spiritual  moods,  views,  aspirations,  and  purposes. 

His  peculiar  nature,  softened  and  elevated  by  grace, 
fitted  him  to  understand  and  bring  forth  something  of  the 
secret  of  the  spiritual  life  of  Jesus,  —  to  give  to  men 
what  Ernesti  has  called  "the  heart  of  Christ." 

It  is  well  known  that  when  men,  differing  in  tempera- 
ment, culture,  or  experience,  look  upon  the  same  land- 
scape, each  takes  into  his  mind  and  carries  away  different 
features.  One  sees  in  it  the  hills  and  valleys,  lakes  and 
Avater-courses,  that  remind  him  of  some  other  and  per-  / 
haps  more  familiar  scene.  Another  fixes  upon  the 
grander  features  of  forest  and  mountain,  of  gorge  and 
cataract,  which  awaken  in  him  a  sense  of  power.  A  third 
takes  note  of  the  various  products  of  art  and  civilization, 
the  signs  of  the  presence  of  man  with  the  moulding  forces 
of  his  reason.     A  fourth  grasps  the  higher  harmonies  of 


298  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   CHURCH. 

nature  and  art,  of  earth  and  sky,  in  which  a  voice  speaks 
to  men  declaring  the  presence  and  glory  of  Him  who  is 
of  all  Creator  and  Lord.  Like  these  were  the  four  Evan- 
gelists in  what  they  saw  in  the  grand  and  varied  life  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  John  was  the  last.  He  saw  for  all 
the  Church  what  the  other  three  saw  not  at  all,  or  saw 
chiefly  for  themselves.  He  heard  for  every  Christian 
throuo-h  the  ages  the  hidier  truths  which  the  others  heard 

O  O  t3 

not  at  all,  or  heard  chiefly  for  their  own  edification.  For 
this  he  was  fitted  by  his  nature  ;  to  this  he  was  called ; 
for  this  he  was  inspired. 

Were  it  not  for  the  so-called  Johannean  passages  in 
the  other  Gospels,  there  might  almost  have  been  a  doubt 
cast  upon  the  existence  of  such  a  world  of  truth  as  John 
presents.^  But  these  glimpses  of  the  same  truth  prevent 
the  doubt.  In  their  missionary  work  the  other  Apostles 
had  little  occasion  to  use  these  higher  spiritual  truths, 
even  if  they  knew  and  understood  them. 

Still  another  peculiar  element  of  fitness  in  John,  as  the 
instrument  for  preparing  the  Gospel  of  the  Christian  life, 
was  his  long,  varied,  and  profound  Christian  experience. 

In  this  he  was  alone  among  the  Apostles.  If,  as  is 
generally  agreed,  his  Gospel  was  not  written  until  almost 
the  close  of  the  first  century,  he  was  ripened  for  it  by  an 
experience  of  nearly  seventy  years.  In  him  appears  the 
contemplative  spirit  of  the  early  Church.  For  half  a 
century  he  seems  to  have  been  comparatively  silent  con- 
cerning the  higher  truths  of  the  Christian  life,  although 
doubtless  brooding  over  them,  until  God's  hour  came. 
During  three  quarters  of  a  century  he  lived  upon  the 
words  of  his  Master,  the  eternal  Word, — in  filial  inter- 
course with  Mary,  in  spiritual  communion  with  the 
Church,  in  living  union  with  the  ascended  Christ,  —  un- 
til those  words  became  the  very  thought  of  his  thought 
1  See  Matt.  xi.  25-27  ;  Luke  x.  21,  22,  etc. 


THE   GENERAL  PLAN.  299 

and  the  very  life  of  his  hfe,  and  he  could  give  them  a 
reality  in  the  utterance  such  as  no  other  man  could  ever 
give  them.  Hence  it  is  that  to-day  men  cling  to  the 
Gospel  of  John  as  the  very  voice  of  the  innermost  soul 
of  the  divine  Redeemer. 

His  long  and  wide  acquaintance  with  the  needs  of  the 
Church  completed  his  fitting  for  his  work.  His  knowl- 
edge of  the  temptations  and  trials,  of  the  sufferings  and 
persecutions,  of  the  rising  errors  in  faith  and  practice,  in 
that  age  which  had  infolded  in  it  the  germs  of  all  the 
ages,  brought  him  to  the  clearest  apprehension  and  fullest 
appreciation  of  the  needs  of  the  Christian  Church,  and 
enabled  him  to  speak  as  directly  to  the  innermost  soul  of 
the  Christian  as  he  spoke  from  the  innermost  soul  of 
Christ.  For  the  regenerated  man,  whether  Jew,  Roman, 
or  Greek,  he  could  embody  in  its  highest  form  the  doc- 
trine concerning  Jesus  Christ  as  the  light  and  life. 

The  impulse  which  led  the  Christian  Church  to  ask  for 
the  permanent  record  of  John's  Gospel,  and  that  which 
led  the  Evangelist  to  comply  with  the  request,  were  both 
from  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  of  light  and  life.  Out 
of  all  the  men,  of  that  age,  connected  with  the  apostolic 
body,  the  Holy  Ghost  chose  the  man  best  fitted  in  Chris- 
tian character  and  experience  to  prepare  and  write  the 
Gospel  for  the  Christian  world. 


CHAPTER  n. 


CRITICAL  VIEW  OF  THE   CHRISTIAN  ADAPTATION  OF 
THE  FOURTH  GOSPEL. 

The  fitness  of  the  fourth  Gospel  for  the  Christian 
Church  of  the  apostolic  age  will  appear  from  an  exami- 
nation of  the  Gospel  itself  in  the  light  of  its  origin,  de- 
sign, and  authorship. 


300  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   CHURCH. 

SECTION  I. 

THE    CHRISTIAN   ADAPTATION    IN    THE    GENERAL    PLAN 
OF   THE   FOURTH   GOSPEL. 

The  Gospel  according  to  John,  may  be  divided  into 
tliree  parts,  —  presenting  the  successive  stages  in  the  rev- 
elation of  Jesus,  the  incarnate  Word,  as  the  light  and 
life,  to  the  faith  of  men,  —  together  with  an  appropriate 
introduction  and  conclusion. 

In  these  divisions  the  character  and  doctrine  of  Jesus 
are  exhibited  in  their  connection  with  the  necessities  of 
the  Church,  which  had  been  gathered  out  of  the  world 
by  the  proclamation  of  tbe  earlier  forms  of  the  Gospel. 
The  eternal  Word,  as  incarnate  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  is 
set  forth  in  the  progress  of  his  highest  spiritual  work  for 
believers  throughout  the  world. 

OUTLINE   OF  THE  FOURTH   GOSPEL. 
INTRODUCTION. 

The  Advent  and  Incarnation  of  the  "Word.  The 
Evangelist  opens  his  Gospel  by  exhibiting  Christ  the 
Eternal  Word,  in  his  Divine  Origin  and  in  his  manifesta- 
tion to  men  in  the  Incarnation,     i.  1-13. 

A.  His  eternal,  divine  origin,  and  his  pre-historic  work 
and  manifestation,     i.  1—5. 

B.  His  manifestation  to  men  in  time.     i.  6-13. 

a.  As  heralded  by  the  Baptist  and  commended  to  the 
faith  of  the  world.     6-8. 

h.  As  the  true  light,  but  rejected  by  the  world  and  by 
his  own.     9-11. 

c.  As  giving  to  those  who  received  him  power  to  be- 
come the  children  of  God  through  faith  on  his  name. 
12,  13. 


THE  GENERAL  PLAN.  301 

PART  I. 

The  Incarnate  Word,  the  only  Life  of  the  World. 
The  Evangelist  presents  the  spiritual  revelations  of  the 
Word  during  the  public  ministry  in  Judaea. 

Jesus  appears  as  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God,  full  of 
grace  and  truth,  the  only  Life  of  the  World.  The  true 
Israelites  believe ;  but  the  false  reject  him,  and  prevent 
the  continuance  of  his  work  in  Judaea,     i.  14-vi.  71. 

Section  1.  John  records  the  testimony  to  the  grace  and 
truth  of  the  incarnate  Word,  —  given  before  the  first 
Passover  of  the  public  ministry,     i.  14-ii.  12. 

A.  By  John  the  Baptist,     i.  15-36. 

B.  By  Jesus  himself,  —  in  personal  intercourse  and  by 
the  miracle  at  Cana.     i.  37-ii.  12. 

Section  2.  John  records  the  manifestations  of  the  spir- 
itual truth  and  power  at  the  foundation  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  —  and  the  rising  faith  between  the  first  and 
second  Passovers  of  the  public  ministry,     ii.  13-iv.  54. 

A.  In  the  special  revelations  of  Jesus,  as  the  Messiah, 
the  life  and  light,  to  the  Jews,  as  the  chosen  people,  ii. 
13-iii.  36. 

a.  To  the  masses  and  rulers,  —  in  cleansing  the  Temple, 
teaching  its  spiritual  design  and  presenting  himself  as  the 
true  temple  and  passover.     ii.  13-22. 

h.  To  Nicodemus,  a  representative  of  the  awakened 
faith  among  the  Jews,  —  in  teaching  the  doctrine  of  the 
new  birth  through  the  death  and  mediation  of  the  Son 
of  God.     iii.  1-21. 

c.  To  the  disciples  of  the  Baptist,  —  in  the  Baptist's 
public  testimony  to  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  made 
by  the  Father,  through  faith,  the  only  way  of  everlast- 
ing life.     iii.  22-36. 

B.  In  the  special  revelation  of  Jesus,  as  the  Messiah, 
the  living  water  and  the  only  Saviour  of  the  world,  to 


302       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

the  Samaritans,  —  to  the  woman  at  the  well,  and  to  the 
men  of  Sychar.     iv.  1-42. 

C.  In  the  special  revelation  of  Jesus,  as  the  author  of 
life,  to  the  Galileans,  —  in  the  healing  of  the  nobleman's 
son.     iv.  43-54. 

Section  3.  John  records  the  greater  subsequent  mani- 
festation of  Jesus  in  connection  with  two  successive  Pass- 
overs, in  which  he  proclaims  himself  the  only  bread  of 
eternal  life,  and  in  consequence  of  which  many  of  his 
disciples  forsake  him  and  the  Jews  seek  to  kill  him.  v. 
1-vi.  71. 

A.  To  the  Jews,  —  in  Jerusalem  at  the  second  Pass- 
over of  his  public  ministry,  —  as  the  life  of  the  world. 
V.  1-47. 

a.  In  healing  the  impotent  man  on  the  Sabbath.    1-15. 

h.  In  the  vindication  of  himself,  —  at  the  subsequent 
judicial  arraignment  for  Sabbath-breaking,  —  on  the 
ground  of  his  being  one  with  the  Father  and  the  true 
Messiah  of  the  Scriptures.     16-47. 

B.  To  the  multitudes,  —  by  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  at  the 
time  of  the  third  Passover,  —  as  the  only  bread  of  eter- 
nal life.     vi.  1-71. 

a.  In  the  miraculous  feeding  of  the  five  thousand  and 
the  stilling  of  the  storm.     1-21. 

5.  In  the  discourse  of  the  following  day,  teaching  the 
doctrine  of  eternal  life  through  faith  in  his  flesh  and 
blood  as  the  true  bread  of  life  from  heaven,  — leading  to 
the  desertion  of  many  disciples,  to  the  confession  of  the 
Twelve,  and  to  his  withdrawal  from  the  open  public 
work  in  Judaea.     22-71. 

PART   II. 

The  Incarnate  Word,  the  Life  and  Light,  in  Conflict 
"With  the  Spiritual  Darkness.  The  Evangelist  presents 
some  of  the  spiritual  revelations  of  Jesus  to  the  unbeliev- 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  303 

ing  Jews,  during  the  period  of  occasional  and  private 
visits  to  Jerusalem. 

Jesus  appears  on  various  extraordinary  occasions,  presses 
his  claims  as  the  Son  of  God,  the  only  life  and  light  of 
the  world,  and  rouses  his  enemies  to  successive  attempts 
to  destroy  him.     vii.  1-xi.  54. 

Section  1.  John  records  the  private  visit  of  Jesus  to 
Jerusalem,  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  (six  months  be- 
fore the  last  Passover), — when  he  presents  himself  as 
the  water  of  life,  the  light  of  the  world,  and  the  only  Sav- 
iour from  the  bondage  of  sin.     vii.  1-viii.  59. 

A.  His  first  appearance  in  the  Temple,  —  the  only  life 
of  the  world,     vii.  1-viii.  1. 

a.  Renewing  his  old  claim  to  have  come  from  the 
Father  and  to  be  the  water  of  life  for  the  thirsting 
world. 

h.  Thereby  raising  a  conflict  of  opinions  concerning 
himself  and  leading  the  Sanhedrim  to  send  officers  to 
take  him. 

B.  His  second  appearance  in  the  temple, — the  only 
light  and  deliverer,     viii.  2-59. 

a.  Showing  to  the  people,  by  the  case  of  the  adulterous 
woman,  the  darkness  and  sin  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
and  contrasting  himself,  as  the  Son  of  God,  the  only  Sav- 
iour of  the  world  from  the  darkness  and  sin.     2-30. 

h.  Declaring  to  those  who  believed  him  to  be  the  Mes- 
siah, that  he,  the  Son  of  God  ever-abiding  with  the  Father, 
alone  can  free  them  through  the  truth,  from  their  bond- 
age to  sin  and  Satan,  — thereby  rousing  their  hatred  and 
leading  them  to  attempt  to  stone  him.     31-59. 

Section  2.  John  records  certain  subsequent  visits  of 
Jesus  to  Jerusalem,  when  he  presents  himself  as  the  only 
Healer  of  spiritual  blindness,  and  the  only  Saviour  of  men 
through  his  sacrificial  death,  —  resulting  in  unbelief  and 
rage.    ix.  1-x.  21. 


304       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

A.  The  restoring  of  siglit  to  the  man  born  blind,  and 
the  revelation  of  Jesus  to  the  blinded  Jews  as  the  one  Sent 
of  God  to  heal  their  spiritual  blindness  through  faith  in 
himself,     ix.  1-41. 

B.  The  claim  of  Jesus  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  the  Good 
Shepherd,  through  the  laying  down  of  whose  life  the  sheep 
can  alone  find  life.     x.  1-21. 

C.  Still  later,  at  the  feast  of  Dedication,  the  claim  of 
Jesus  —  when  urged  to  declare  himself  —  that  he  and  the 
Father  are  one.     x.  22-42. 

a.  The  appeal  to  the  works  done  in  his  Father's  name 
as  proof  of  his  claims,  and  the  reiteration  of  his  oneness 
with  the  Father.     22-30. 

h.  Thereby  leading  to  another  attempt  to  stone  him, 
and  to  his  escape  across  the  Jordan  to  the  Gentiles.  31- 
42. 

Section  3.  John  records  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  when 
Jesus  presents  himself  as  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life, — 
thereby  bringing  the  rage  of  his  enemies  to  a  crisis  and 
hasteninor  his  own  death,     xi.  1-54. 

A.  The  death  of  Lazarus  and  the  interposition  of  Jesus 
as  the  resurrection  and  the  life.     xi.  1-44. 

B.  The  results,  — faith  on  the  part  of  the  people,  and 
the  settled  purpose  to  destroy  him  on  the  part  of  the  San- 
hedrim,    xi.  45-54. 

PART     III. 

The  Incarnate  "Word  securing  the  Life  of  the  ^World 
through  his  Sacrificial  Death.  The  Evangelist  presents 
the  bold  public  return  of  Jesus  to  Jerusalem,  and  the 
clearer  spiritual  revelations  connected  with  the  close  of  his 
career. 

Jesus,  claiming  to  be  the  Messiah,  voluntarily  sacrifices 
himself  on  the  cross,  as  the  Passover  of  the  world,  xi. 
55-xix.  42. 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  6i)b 

Section  1.  John  records  the  public  return  and  claim 
of  Jesus,  together  with  the  events  which  preceded  and 
broucrht  about  his  sacrificial  death,     xi.  55-xiii.  30. 

o 

A.  The  crisis  with  the  chief  conspirators  occurs  when 
Judas  and  the  Sanhedrim  are  roused  to  enmity,  by  the 
anointing  for  the  burial  at  Bethany,  and  by  the  public 
entry  as  Messiah  into  Jerusalem,     xi.  55-xii.  19. 

B.  The  crisis  with  the  world  at  large  is  heralded  by 
the  coming  of  certain  Greeks,  —  calling  forth  a  renewed 
declaration  of  the  claims  of  Jesus,     xii.  20-50. 

a.  The  public  announcement  to  the  people  by  Jesus, 
that  the  hour  of  his  glorification  by  the  Father,  and  of 
his  lifting  up  to  draw  all  men  to  him,  has  arrived.  20- 
33. 

h.  His  final  appeal  to  the  people,  as  the  only  light  of 
the  world,  the  only  representative  of  his  Father,  and  the 
only  way  of  everlasting  life,  —  resulting  in  unbelief  and 
rejection.    34-50. 

C.  The  crisis  with  the  disciples  is  reached  at  the  feet- 
washing,  at  the  Passover  supper,  when  Jesus  in  his 
boundless  love  teaches  the  lesson  of  humble  service,  and 
singles  out  and  sends  away  Judas  the  betrayer,  xiii.  1- 
30. 

Section  2.  John  records  the  last  private  teaching  of 
Jesus,  during  the  evening  of  his  betrayal,  to  his  own  true 
disciples,  containing  the  complete  unfolding  of  the  Chris- 
tian life.     xiii.  31-xvii.  26. 

A.  The  discourse  in  the  room,  after  the  Passover  sup- 
per, containing  the  announcement  of  immediate  depart- 
ure and  glorification,  and  the  consolations  administered, 
xiii.  31-xiv.  31. 

B.  The  discourse  on  the  way  to  Gethsemane,  concern- 
ing the  new  life  of  reconciliation  with  the  Father,  xv.  1- 
xvi.  33. 

a.   Its  features,  starting  from  the  vine  and  branches,  — 

20 


306  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL  FOR   THE   CHURCH. 

the  living  union  of  believers  with  Christ  by  faith  ;  the 
loving  union  of  believers  with  one  another  ;  the  accom- 
panying hatred  by  the  world,     xv.  1-25. 

h.  Its  development  through  the  mission  of  the  Holy- 
Ghost,  the  Comforter  (Helper),     xv.  26-xvi.  15. 

c.  The  necessary  preparation  for  it,  in  the  departure  of 
Jesus  by  the  cross,  thus  at  once  winning  the  boundless 
favor  of  God  the  Father  and  overcoming  the  world  for 
those  who  believe  on  him.     xvi.  16-33. 

C.  The  intercessory  prayer  in  which  Jesus  links  the 
everlasting  life  with  the  Father  and  concludes  his  special 
spiritual  revelation  to  his  disciples,     xvii.  1-26. 

Section  3.  John  records  the  voluntarj^  surrender  and 
sacrifice  of  Jesus,  with  the  attendant  evidences  of  his 
being  the  Messiah,  the  light  and  life  of  the  world,  xviii. 
1-xix.  42. 

A.  Jesus  voluntarily  surrenders  himself  into  the  hands 
of  his  enemies  the  unbelieving  Jews,     xviii.  1-xix.  16. 

a.  The  betrayal  and  apprehension,  —  in  which  he 
shows  his  power  over  his  enemies  and  his  omnipotence, 
and  declares  his  purpose  to  drink  "  the  cup  of  his  Father." 
xviii.  1-11. 

h.  The  trial  before  the  Jewish  authorities,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  John,  the  faithless  Peter,  and  others,  —  in  which 
he  solemnly  reiterates  his  claims  made  before  the  people 
in  his  teachings,     xviii.  12-27. 

c.  The  trial  before  the  Gentile  ruler,  Pilate,  —  to 
whom  he  is  revealed  as  Messiah,  the  King  of  the  Jews, 
by  the  power  of  truth,  and  as  the  Son  of  God  possessing 
all  power  ;  by  whom  he  is  repeatedly  declared  innocent 
and  yet  is  delivered  up  to  the  Jews  to  be  crucified,  xviii. 
28-xix.  16. 

B.  Jesus  voluntarily  yields  himself  up  to  his  execu- 
tioners and  is  crucified  as  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  the  King 
of  the  Jews,"  fulfilUng  the  prophecies  concerning  Messiah 


THE   GENERAL   PLAN.  307 

in  his  experience  in  finishing  the  sacrificial  work.     xix. 
17-30. 

C.  Jesus  yields  himself  to  death  and  the  grave  as 
Messiah,     xix.  31-42. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  Incarnate  Word,  Crucified  and  Risen,  the  Sav- 
iour and  Lord  of  all  Believers.  The  Evangelist  pre- 
sents the  manifestations  of  the  risen  Saviour  to  the  faith 
of  his  followers,  —  establishing  his  identity,  and  the  re- 
ality of  his  presence  of  sympathy  and  power  with  his 
Church  in  all  ages.     xx.  1-xxi.  25. 

Section  1.  John  records  certain  appearances  of  Jesus 
to  the  disciples,  after  his  resurrection,  designed  to  com- 
fort them  and  to  lead  to  faith  in  him  and  to  life  through 
his  name.     xx.  1-31. 

A.  To  Mary  Magdalene,  before  his  (first)  ascension 
to  his  Father,  —  to  comfort  her  in  her  sorrow,     xx.  1-18. 

B.  To  the  disciples,  with  Thomas  absent,  in  secret 
gathering  in  the  upper  chamber  in  Jerusalem,  —  to  give 
peace  in  their  trouble  and  to  assure  them  of  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,     xx.  19-23. 

C.  To  the  eleven  disciples,  in  the  same  place,  on  the 
next  Lord's  day,  —  to  relieve  the  difiiculties  of  the  doubt- 
ing Thomas,     xx.  24-29. 

D.  To  the  disciples,  with  many  other  signs,  not  re- 
corded, but  intended  to  work  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Son  of 
God,  and  to  lead  to  life  through  his  name.     xx.  30-31. 

Section  2.  John  records  the  most  extraordinary  of 
Christ's  manifestations,  —  that  by  the  Sea  of  Tiberias, 
—  completely  establishing  his  identity  and  Messiahship, 
and  preparing  for  the  future  work  of  his  Church,  xxi. 
1-25. 

A.  The  miracle  of  the  draught  of  fishes,  revealing  Jesus 
to  the  faith  of  his  disciples,  who  under  the  lead  of  Peter 
had  returned  to  their  old  occupation,     xxi.  1-14. 


808  JOHN,    THE   GOSPEL   FOR    THE    CHURCH. 

B.  The  restoration  of  the  backslidden  Peter,  and  the 
delineation  of  his  future  work  and  destiny,     xxi.  15-19. 

C.  The  career  of  John  marked  out,  and  his  final  testi- 
mony to  the  truth  of  his  Gospel,     xxi.  20-25. 


^        SECTION  11. 

THE  CHKISTIAN  ADAPTATION  IK  THE  CENTEAL  IDEA   OF 
THE  FOURTH   GOSPEL. 

The  outline  of  the  gospel  according  to  John,  with  its 
marks  of  the  Christian  aim  of  the  Evangelist,  will  assist 
in  making  it  apparent  that  this  Gospel  agrees,  in  its  cen- 
tral idea  and  general  drift,  with  the  testimony  of  history 
that  it  was  produced  and  published  especially  for  Chris- 
tian readers. 

I.   The   Central  Idea. 

Starting  out  with  this  view  of  the  aim  of  the  fourth 
Gospel,  it  is  easy  to  trace  the  governing  idea  throughout 
its  extent  and  in  all  the  prominent  features. 

The  central  idea  of  the  Gospel,  as  stated  by  the  Evan- 
gelist himself,  is  found  in  the  divine  life  which  has  its 
origin  in  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  the  incarnate  Son 
of  God.  He  distinctly  states  that  his  selection  of  mate- 
rial was  made  with  this  end  in  view :  "  And  many  other 
signs  truly  did  Jesus  in  the  presence  of  his  disciples,  which 
are  not  written  in  this  book,  but  these  are  written,  that  ye 
might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ; 
and  that  believing,  ye  might  have  life  through  his  name  " 
(xx.  30,  31>. 

It  is  evident  from  the  needs  of  the  Christian  as  already 
presented,  that  the  Evangelist  who  would  lead  him  to  a 
higher  and  fuller  life  must  present  Jesus  in  his  relations 
to  the  life  of  faith.     John  accordingly  presents  his  char- 


THE    CENTRAL   IDEA.  309 

acter,  not  as  the  fulfillment  of  Messianic  prophecy,  nor 
as  the  personal  embodiment  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  al- 
mighty worker  and  conqueror,  nor  as  the  perfect  and  uni- 
versal man,  but  as  the  eternal,  divine  Word,  incarnate, 
crucified,  and  risen  from  the  dead,  the  object  of  faith  and 
the  source  of  life. 

The  contrast  is  doubtless  sometimes  too  sharply  drawn 
between  John,  as  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the 
other  Gospels ;  for  while  in  the  former  Jesus  more  ex- 
pressly and  frequently  declares  himself  the  Son  of  God, 
the  latter  always  assume  his  Deity,  often  demonstrate  it, 
and  are  utterly  unintelligible  except  upon  its  admission. 
Nevertheless  the  ground  of  the  contrast  is  real.  The 
Christian  consciousness  affirms  that  the  same  thing  is 
true  of  the  contrast  in  spirituality  between  John's  Gospel 
and  the  others,  —  it  may  be  too  sharply  drawn,  but  every 
chapter  and  verse  shows  it  to  be  real.  In  short,  the 
fourth  Gospel  is  everywhere  the  manifestation  of  Christ 
as  the  spiritual  liglit  for  the  building  up  of  the  spiritual 
life  of  believers.  Ernesti  might  have  said  that  it  is  the 
heart  of  Christ  in  its  most  direct  appeal  to  the  faith  of 
the  Christian  heart,  for  every  part  of  it  bears  the  marks 
of  its  Christian  aim. 

That  this  is  the  Gospel  of  the  incarnate  Son  in  his  re- 
lation to  the  divine  life  in  man  is  made  manifest  every- 
where. Its  teachings  would  have  been  unintelligible  to 
the  men  of  that  age  without  the  more  external  and  elemen- 
tary teachings  of  the  first  three  Evangelists.  It  presup- 
poses the  previous  practical  acceptance  of  Christ  as  the 
Saviour  by  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  It  is  the 
Gospel  of  faith,  of  life,  of  love. 

This  is  the  Gospel  which  gives  the  Christian  the  req- 
uisite instruction  concerning  the  secret  springs  and  laws 
of  the  life  of  faith  and  obedience  to  God,  and  concerning 
the  mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  man's  divine  helper  in 


310       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

that  life.  It  is  obvious  that  these  teachings  are  given 
nowhere  else  in  the  Gospels  with  such  fullness,  clearness, 
and  directness.  In  short,  all  the  great  moving  and  con- 
trolling principles  of  the  Christian  life  are  here  alone  given 
in  the  form  needed  to  prepare  the  way  for  an  intelligent 
Christian  career. 

This  is  peculiarly  the  Gospel  of  everlasting  life.  It 
regards  the  divine  life  begun  in  the  Christian  soul  as  the 
germ  of  an  endless  life  of  purity  and  blessedness.  It 
most  clearly  reveals  in  Christ  the  resurrection  and  the 
life,  and  the  lifting  up  of  even  man's  body  from  the  grave 
to  immortality.  It  alone,  therefore,  meets  the  longing 
of  the  renewed  soul  for  the  endless  life  in  the  heavenly 
mansions  in  perfect  union  and  communion  with  God. 

This  is  the  Gospel  of  the  risen  and  living  Christ.  It 
is  to  be  remarked  that  in  John's  Gospel  the  perpetual 
ministrations  of  the  risen  and  living  Christ  ate  brought 
out  in  the  closing  chapters  as  nowhere  else  in  the  Gos- 
pels. These  chapters  are  accordingly  among  the  most 
precious  treasures  of  the  Word  of  God. 

.These  varied  relations  of  Christ  to  the  Christian  appear 
throughout  the  fourth  Gospel,  as  will  be  seen  more 
clearly  in  its  further  consideration. 

II.    General  Drift. 

The  presence  of  this  central  Christian  idea  manifests 
itself  everywhere  in  the  general  movement  of  the  fourth 
Gospel.  It  may  be  seen  in  the  entire  plan  and  in  all  the 
parts. 

The  Introduction  exhibits  our  Lord,  not  as  in  Matthew, 
the  Son  of  David,  not  as  in  Mark,  the  mighty  conqueror, 
not  as  in  Luke,  the  Son  of  man,  but  as  the  Son  of  God 
incarnate.  As  such,  he  is  the  Word,  the  Life,  the  Light, 
the  Only  Begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth. 
He  is  the  Only  Begotten  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the 


THE   CENTRAL   IDEA.  311 

Father ;  in  short,  he  is  God.  The  Word  is  made  flesh 
and  is  rejected  by  many,  but  received  by  some  who  be- 
come in  consequence  the  sons  of  God. 

In  these  aspects  he  is  presented  throughout  the  Gos- 
pel. 

In  Part  First,  the  Evangehst  unfolds  the  spiritual  mani- 
festations of  Jesus  in  the  public  ministry  in  Judsea.  He 
appears  during  this  period,  especially  to  the  faithful  in 
the  world,  as  the  incarnate  Son,  the  only  life  of  the 
world,  revealing  the  glory  of  God  and  a  supernatural 
fullness  of  grace  and  truth,  and  meeting  with  rising  faith 
and  unbelief.  The  faithful  ones  who  were  waiting  for  his 
coming  are  found  in  the  Baptist  and  his  disciples,  in  such 
believing  Jews  as  Nicodemus,  in  the  woman  of  Samaria 
and  her  Samaritan  neighbors,  and  in  the  Galilean  noble- 
man ;  the  enemies  who  meet  him  with  persecution  are 
found  in  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  and  in  Galilee,  who  by 
seeking  his  life  occasion  his  withdrawal  from  public  work 
in  Judaea. 

In  Part  Second,  the  Evangelist  exhibits  some  of  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  to  the  unbelieving  Jews,  during  the 
period  in  which  he  visits  Jerusalem  only  occasionally  and 
privately.  In  these  instructions  Jesus  presses  upon  them, 
with  ever-increasing  plainness  and  energy,  his  claim  to 
be  the  Son  of  God,  coequal  with  the  Father,  and  through 
his  sacrificial  death  the  only  source  of  light  and  freedom 
and  life  to  men  in  their  darkness  and  slavery  and  death, 
the  only  hope  of  a  lost  world.  These  teachings  enrage 
the  Jews  beyond  measure,  and  prepare  them  for  his 
murder. 

In  Part  Third,  the  Evangehst  gives  those  last  and  clear- 
est manifestations  of  Jesus  as  the  light  and  life,  made  in 
connection  with  the  close  of  his  career.  Jesus,  as  he 
voluntarily  moves  toward  the  cross,  presents  his  claims  in 
the  fullest  manner  before  all  classes  in  Jerusalem,  and  re- 


312  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL  FOR   THE   CHURCH. 

veals  to  his  disciples  on  the  evening  of  the  betrayal  the 
great  doctrines  of  the  Christian  system  and  life.  He 
then  completes  his  sacrifice  by  yielding  himself  up  to  his 
enemies,  to  the  cross,  and  to  the  power  of  death  and  the 
grave,  —  declaring  with  his  closing  breath  that  the  work 
of  redemption  is  "  finished." 

The  Conclusion  furnishes  a  fit  completion  of  what  the 
other  portions  have  thus  far  carried  forward.  It  mani- 
fests the  risen  Saviour  to  the  faith  of  his  followers,  — 
establishing  his  bodily  identity  and  the  reality  of  his 
divine  and  human  sympathy  and  power  with  his  Church 
in  all  ages.  These  last  two  chapters  of  John,  in  present- 
ing the  risen  Christ  as  the  comforter  of  the  weeping 
Magdalene,  the  peace-giver  to  the  troubled  band  of  dis- 
ciples, the  helper  of  the  doubting  Thomas,  the  pro- 
vider for  the  fasting  fishermen,  the  restorer  of  the  back- 
slidden Peter,  and  the  re  warder  of  the  faithful  John,  have 
ministered  abundantly  of  like  help  to  the  faith  of  the 
people  of  God  in  all  ages,  and  made  the  Church  certain 
that  it  trusts  not  in  a  dead  but  in  a  living  Saviour. 

This  Jesus,  —  who  is  not  only  the  finisher  of  Judaism 
and  the  inheritor  of  all  Jewish  perfections,  not  only  the 
satisfaction  of  the  Roman  idea  in  surpassing  the  best  and 
mightiest  of  the  Caesars,  not  only  the  more  than  realiza- 
tion of  the  Greek  ideal  of  manhood  in  being  the  perfect, 
divine  man,  but  also  the  Incarnate  Word,  the  perfect  Re- 
vealer  of  God  and  eternal  Life  to  a  lost  world,  —  this 
Jesus  is  the  one  whom  John  represents  in  his  Gospel. 


OMISSIONS   AND  ADDITIONS.  313 


SECTION  ni. 

THE   CHRISTIAN   ADAPTATION    IN    THE    OMISSIONS    AND 
ADDITIONS    OF   THE   FOURTH   GOSPEL. 

I.   The  Omissions  of  the  Fourth  Gospel. 

The  Christian  aim  of  the  fourth  Gospel  appears  espe- 
cially in  its  omissions  of  facts  and  truths  made  prominent 
in  the  other  Gospels. 

As  John  contemplated  the  wants  of  the  Church,  in 
which  there  was  properly  no  longer  a  distinction  between 
Jew,  Roman,  and  Greek,  he  had  no  need  for  the  material 
presented  in  the  missionary  Gospels,  and  especially  de- 
signed to  commend  Jesus  to  sinners  in  the  representative 
races  of  the  age.  Even  upon  the  assumption  —  at  most 
but  partially  warranted  —  that  the  Jewish,  Roman,  and 
Greek  Christians  were  still  chiefly  familiar  with  the 
Gospel  prepared  for  each  of  them  respectively,  it  is  still 
true  that  the  facts  of  the  other  and  unfamiliar  Gospels 
were  not  absolutely  necessary  for  those  to  whom  they 
had  not  been  given.  The  peculiar  facts  of  Mark  and 
Luke  would  have  added  little  toward  producing  convic- 
tion in  the  mind  of  the  Jew  who  had  Matthew's  Gospel. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  facts  of  Matthew  and  Luke  with 
reference  to  the  Roman  who  had  Mark's  Gospel ;  and  of 
those  of  Matthew  and  Mark  with  reference  to  the  Greek 
who  had  Luke's  Gospel. 

Accordingly  we  have  almost  a  clear  sweep  of  omission, 
—  none  of  the  leading  events  detailed  by  the  other  Gos- 
pels, with  a  single  exception,  being  recorded  by  John 
until  he  reaches  the  history  of  the  Passion  and  the 
Resurrection,  without  which  no  Gospel  could  be  written. 
That  exception,  in  which  John  coincides  Avith  the  synop- 
tic Gospels,  is  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand  (vi.  1- 


314       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

24),  retained  in  order  to  prepare  for  the  discourse  to 
which  it  gave  rise,  and  in  which  Christ  presented  him- 
self as  the  bread  of  life  given  to  the  world  from  heaven 
by  the  Father.  Besides  this  the  mere  fact  of  the  com- 
ing of  Jesus  to  Bethany  is  retained  (xii.  1),  to  explain 
the  treachery  of  Judas  connected  with  it,  and  for  the 
instructive  lessons  conveyed  in  the  anointing  at  that 
place. 

This  almost  entire  omission  of  the  material  found  in 
the  other  Gospels  is  what  would  naturally  be  expected  in 
a  later  and  spiritual  Gospel.  Quite  another  G-ospel^  as 
Da  Costa  has  said,  must  that  one  be  which  omits  the 
human  genealogy  and  divine  origin  of  Jesus  as  Messiah, 
his  early  experience  and  preparation  for  his  Messianic 
work,  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  series  of  miracles 
and  parables,  and  all  the  other  treasures  embodied  for 
the  Jew  by  Matthew  in  the  first  Gospel ;  the  rapid  and 
vivid  progress  of  the  Captain  of  our  salvation  in  his  work 
of  conquering  the  world,  as  embodied  by  Mark  for  the 
Roman ;  the  coming  down  of  heaven  to  earth  at  the 
birth  of  John  and  Jesus,  the  marvelous  exhibitions  of 
the  human  tenderness  of  the  divine  man,  the  matchless 
system  of  parables  unfolding  the  love  of  God  to  univer- 
sal humanity,  and  all  the  other  treasures  embodied  by 
Luke  for  the  Greek,  —  quite  another  Gospel,  and  yet  a 
Gospel  with  an  aim  just  as  marked  and  vastly  higher. 
It  passes  by  these  facts,  which  appeal  to  the  senses  of 
the  unspiritual  man,  to  unfold  that  word  of  life  which 
speaks  to  the  soul  of  the  spiritual  man. 

II.   The  Additions  of  the  Fourth  Grospel. 

Still  more  clearly  does  the  Christian  aim  of  John's  Gos- 
pel appear  from  the  additions  which  he  makes  to  the  ma- 
terial furnished  by  the  other  Evangelists.  These  addi- 
tions may  be  looked  upon  as  made  up  of  narratives  of 


OMISSIONS   AND  ADDITIONS.  315 

works  of  power  and  words  of  instruction,  or  as  the  em- 
bodiment of  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  theology. 

"Works  of  Power.  The  fourth  Gospel  is  only  subordi- 
nately  a  record  of  outward  events.  Only  six  of  our  Lord's 
miracles  are  recorded  in  it ;  but  these  are  all  of  the  most 
remarkable  kind,  and  surpass  all  the  rest  in  depth,  in  spe- 
cialty of  application,  and  in  fullness  of  instruction.  Of 
these  six,  only  one  is  found  in  the  other  three  Gospels,  — 
the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand  (vi.  1-15).  The  reason 
for  John's  recording  it  aj)pears  in  another  connection. 

The  peculiarities  of  the  other  five  are  very  striking. 
They  furnish  a  higher  display  of  power  over  the  ordinary 
laws  and  course  of  nature,  than  do  the  miracles  of  the 
other  Gospels.  John  alone  records  the  first  of  all  the 
miracles  that  Jesus  wrought,  the  changing  of  water  into 
wine  at  Cana  (ii.  1-11),  in  which  without  even  the  utter- 
ance of  a  word  he  transforms  the  very  nature  of  the  sub- 
stance with  which  he  deals.  He  records  that  of  the  noble- 
man's son  (iv.  48-54),  cured  by  Jesus  at  a  distance  from 
Cana.  Out  of  the  many  cures  of  the  lame  and  the  pal- 
sied by  the  word  of  Jesus, 'he  selects  that  of  the  man  who 
had  suffered  from  an  infirmity  thirty  and  eight  years  (v.), 
a  case  of  the  most  utter  friendlessness  and  of  the  most 
abject  weakness,  helplessness,  and  hopelessness.  Out  of 
the  innumerable  cures  of  the  blind  he  chooses  the  case  of 
the  person  who  had  been  born  blind  (ix.),  which  was  such 
a  case  as  men  had  never  known  to  be  cured  (ix.  32).  He 
gives  "  the  restoration  of  Lazarus  to  life,  not  from  a  death- 
bed, like  the  daughter  of  Jairus ;  not  from  a  bier  for  the 
dead,  like  the  young  man  of  Nain,  but  from  the  grave^ 
when,  having  lain  buried  there  for  four  days,  he  had  al- 
ready begun  to  sink  into  corruption  (xi.).  Lastly,  from 
among  the  signs  and  wonders  which  Jesus  did  while  still 
upon  the  earth  after  his  resurrection,  and  which  are  no- 
where else  recorded  by  the  Evangelists,  we  have  one  ex- 


316       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

ample,  in  the  miraculous  draught  of  fishes  on  the  sea  of 
Tiberias  (xxi.),  when  the  disciples,  at  the  command  of 
their  risen  Lord,  had  thrown  out  the  net  on  the  right  side 
of  the  ship,  and  Simon  Peter  went  up,  and  drew  the  net 
to  la7id  full  of  great  fishes,  an  hundred  and  fifty  and  three  ; 
and  for  all  there  were  so  many,  yet  was  not  the  net 
hroken^  ^ 

Still,  John  does  not  record  these  works  simply  because 
they  are  so  wonderful ;  but  because  their  extraordinary 
character  made  them  so  much  the  better  signs  of  the  mar- 
velous things  of  God,  and  led  Jesus  to  connect  with  them 
his  profoundest  spiritual  reasonings,  discourses,  and  con- 
versations, alike  with  friends  and  foes,  with  his  disciples 
and  with  the  multitude. 

The  miracle  at  the  wedding  in  Cana  furnished  the  oc- 
casion for  Jesus  to  define  his  relation,  in  his  divine  mis- 
sion, to  Mary,  his  earthly  mother,  and  to  exercise  his  cre- 
ative energy  in  sanctioning  the  marriage  relation  and  the 
home  ;  while  showing  forth  his  own  glory,  and  confirming 
the  faith  of  his  early  followers.  The  healing  of  the  man 
at  the  pool  of  Bethesda,  occurring  on  the  Sabbath-day, 
leads,  not  (as  repeatedly  happens  in  the  case  of  the  other 
Evangelists)  to  a  single  saying,  but  to  a  whole  series  of 
statements  and  instructions  from  the  Saviour,  respecting 
himself  and  his  relation  to  the  Father.  The  account  of 
the  opening  of  the  eyes  of  the  man  born  blind  furnishes 
the  vehicle  for  all  the  eminently  spiritual  teachings  con- 
tained in  the  conversations  between  Jesus  and  the  man 
whom  he  had  healed,  between  the  latter  and  the  Phari- 
sees, and  between  the  Jews  and  the  man's  parents.  With 
the  narrative  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  the 
Evangelist  has  linked  the  clear  and  sublime  teachings  it 
occasioned  concerning  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  the 
account  of  the  ell'ect  of  the  miracle  upon  the  Jewish  au- 

1  TJie  Four  Witnesses,  p.  238. 


OMISSIONS   AND   ADDITIONS.  317 

thorlties,  and  the  story  of  the  supper  at  Bethany  when 
Mary  anointed  him  for  his  burial  and  Judas  and  the  chief 
priests  determined  upon  his  destruction.  In  short,  one 
lialf  of  that  portion  of  the  Gospel  of  John  which  precedes 
the  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem  is  directly  connected 
with  the  first  five  of  these  extraordinary  miracles.  The 
sixth  and  last,  on  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  prepares  for  the  in- 
troduction of  that  wonderful  conference  of  Christ  with  his 
disciples,  in  which  he  restores  the  fallen  Peter,  and  makes 
his  last  revelation  concerning  the  future  of  the  Church. 

Words  of  Instruction.  The  statements  brought  out 
in  connection  with  the  miracles  of  John's  Gospel  show 
it  to  be  more  properly  a  narrative  of  spiritual  instruction 
than  a  record  of  historical  events. 

It  will  appear  on  examination  that,  with  the  exception 
of  the  miraculous  events  already  noticed  and  those  cen- 
tring in  the  crucifixion,  the  Gospel  is  made  up  of  conver- 
sations and  discourses  of  Jesus,  and  summations  of  truth 
by  the  Evangelist  himself.  The  latter  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  testimonies  to  the  divine  character  of  Jesus  which 
John  gathers  up  from  the  Baptist  and  the  early  disciples 
(i.,  iii.) ;  and  by  the  account  of  the  intercourse  with  Jesus 
after  the  resurrection  (xx.,  xxi.).  The  former  comprise 
the  conversations  with  Nicodemus  (iii.),  with  the  Samar- 
itan woman  (iv.),  with  the  Jews  in  the  Temple  at  the 
feast  of  Tabernacles  (vii.,  viii.),  with  the  Jews  in  the 
Temple  in  Solomon's  Porch  at  the  feast  of  Dedication 
(x.)  ;  and  the  discourses  concerning  the  shepherd  and  the 
sheep  (x.),  and  the  great  series  connected  with  the  last 
Passover  (xii.-xvii.). 

But  notwithstanding  the  predominance  of  instruction,  it 
will  be  apparent  to  the  careful  observer  that  the  personal 
and  conversational  element  enters  almost  every  where  even 
into  the  discourses.  Nowhere  in  the  Gospels  does  the  in- 
tense personality  of  Jesus  so  impress  itself  upon  every- 


318  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL  FOR  THE   CHURCH. 

thing  as  in  the  last.  He  himself  appears  everywhere,  in 
the  events  and  the  teachings,  as  the  way,  the  truth,  the 
life,  the  ever-present  incarnate  Son  of  God.  In  short, 
though  so  preeminently  spiritual,  no  production  of  any 
age  has  ever  been  found  more  marked  by  a  thorough  and 
all-pervasive  realism. 

It  might  readily  be  shown  that  the  great  spiritual 
truths,  which  have  been  seen  to  be  central  to  John,  light 
up  everything  in  his  Gospel  and  decide  and  give  color  to 
every  verse  and  sentence. 

The  Christian  Doctrines.  But  preeminently  is  the 
fourth  Gospel  to  be  regarded  as  the  embodiment  of  the 
theology  of  the  Christian  Church.  This  aspect  of  it  may 
best  be  brought  out  b}^  a  systematic  view  of  the  truth  in 
connection  with  the  work  of  redemption  and  the  Chris- 
tian life. 

The  great  doctrines  are  those  concerning  God,  Christ, 
the  condition  of  man,  the  redemption  provided  in  the  in- 
carnation and  propitiation,  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  the  resurrection  and  final  judgment.  On  all  these 
points  the  fourth  Gospel  is  greatly  in  advance  of  the 
other  three,  although  in  entire  agreement  with  the  teach- 
ing of  the-  Epistles  and  the  Apocalypse. 

G-od.  John  teaches,  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  himself, 
that  "  God  is  spirit "  (not  a  spirit,  for  the  article  is 
neither  expressed  nor  implied  in  the  original),  meaning  by 
this,  that  He  is  the  divine  life-principle  in  itself  (iv.  24).^ 
He  is  beyond  the  range  of  the  mortal  senses :  "  No  man 
hath  seen  God  at  any  time  "  (i.  18  ;  vi.  46).  "  Ye  have 
neither  heard  his  voice,  nor  seen  his  shape  "  (v.  37).  It 
needed  the  revelation  of  the  only-begotten  Son,  who  ex- 

1  See  Lias,  Tlie  Doctrinal  System  of  St.  John,  p.  17.  The  Greek  word  for 
spirit  (irvedfia)  "means  either  (1)  a  life-principle  of  whatever  kind  ;  (2)  the 
Divine  life-principle  in  itself  ;  (3)  the  Divine  life-principle  in  man."  John 
uses  it  here  in  the  second  sense. 


OMISSIONS  AND   ADDITIONS.  319 

isted  in  his  bosom  from  all  eternity,  to  make  him  clearly 
known  to  the  world  (i.  18).  His  worship  is  not,  there- 
fore, to  be  confined  to  one  place,  Mount  Zion  or  Mount 
Gerizim,  but  He  is  to  be  worshiped  in  spirit  (or  hy 
spirit  and  not  by  mere  form)  and  in  truth,  and  his  real 
temple  henceforth  is  to  be,  not  at  Jerusalem,  but  wherever 
true  worshipers  are  to  be  found  in  the  whole  world 
(iv.  21-24). 

But  God  is  not  a  mere  abstract  principle,  underlying 
the  world ;  He  is  a  person,  a  Father,  capable  of  love, 
care,  tenderness  (iii.  16).  He  is  the  source  of  all  being 
whether  uncreated  or  created.  From  him  the  eternal 
Son  derives  his  being  (v.  26).  From  him  the  Spirit  of 
truth  is  sent  (xiv.  16).  From  him,  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  Son,  all  things  have  derived  their  being 
(i.  3).  As  the  Father  he  is  the  fountain  of  redemption: 
"  God  (the  Father^  as  the  sense  requires)  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son  "  (iii.  16).  He 
sends  the  Son  (v.  37),  commits  his  prerogatives  into  his 
hands  (v.  22),  bears  witness  to  him  (viii.  18).  The  Son 
came  into  the  world  to  do  his  will  (vi.  38),  his  pleasure 
(viii.  29),  his  work  (xvii.  4).  The  Father  and  the  Son 
are  one  (x.  30),  not  in  a  unity  of  personal  existence,  but 
in  the  possession  of  a  common  being  and  life  (xvii.  11, 
21,  22).  The  Father  is  the  source  of  all  hfe,  "  the  living 
Father  "  (vi.  57).  He  has  imparted  this  life  to  his  Son, 
and  through  him  it  is  communicated  to  all  creatures  (v. 
26  ;  i.  4,  18).  The  children  of  God  are  born  of  his  will 
(i.  14).  He  is  light,  the  power  which  illuminates  the 
whole  being  of  man. 

So  God  the  Father  is  the  end  of  all  being  no  less  than 
its  source.  The  life  flowing  from  him  enfolds  in  the  end 
not  only  the  Trinity  itself,  but  all  who  are  bound  together 
by  the  indwelling  of  God.  "  The  ultimate  result  of 
Christ's  work,  as  declared  by  himself  in  the  fourth  Gos- 


320  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   CHURCH. 

pel,  would  seem  to  be  a  merging  all  the  redeemed  into 
the  being  of  God,  not  in  a  pantheistic  annihilation  of  all 
personality,  but  by  bringing  each  personal  soul,  while  in 
full  and  glad  realization  of  its  own  separate  consciousness, 
into  a  complete  union,  not  only  of  will  and  affections, 
hopes  and  desires,  but  of  being  also  with  the  Infinite  Au- 
thor of  all  "  (xvii.). 

The  Person  of  Chyist,  Jesus  is  the  "Word  (the  Logos), 
the  Revealer  of  God  (i.  1).  The  word  is  the  revelation 
of  the  thought,  its  incarnation,  as  it  were,  in  order  to 
convey  it  to  the  mind  of  another.  The  word  in  the 
Greek  is  also  the  reason  of  anything,  *'  the  unfolding  of 
its  true  nature  and  meaning  to  him  who  knows  it  not." 
Jesus  Christ  claimed  to  be  the  Revealer  of  the  Father 
(xiv.  9  ;  Matt.  xi.  27 ;  Luke  x.  22),  and  this  is  best  ex- 
pressed by  his  title,  the  Word, 

His  relation  to  the  Father  is  absolutely  unique.  He 
came  forth  from  the  Father  (xvi.  28),  he  ever  turns  his 
face  toward  Him  (vrpos  rhv  ©eov),i  and  he  is  himself  very 
God  (i.  1).  Li  the  bosom  of  the  Father  from  all  eter- 
nity, he  is  yet  personall}?^  distinct  from  him  (i.  1,  18  ; 
viii.  58  ;  xvii.  5,  24),  the  only-begotten  Son  (i.  14,  18  ; 
iii.  16,  18).  In  his  work  he  is  subordinate  to  the  Father 
(xiv.  28),  he  is  sent  by  the  Father  (iv.  34  ;  v.  23,  24, 
30,  37,  38  ;  vi.  39,  44,  etc.),  receives  his  name,  the  sym- 
bol of  his  power  and  greatness,  from  the  Father  (xvii. 
11),2  ascribes  his  power  to  the  Father  (v.  26,  19,  20,  22, 
27  ;  xvii.  22).     Yet  he   declares   himself   one   with  the 

"i  Liddon,  Bampton  Lectures,  Lect.  v.  p.  342.  The  Greek  is  not,  "the 
Word  was  with  God,"  but  "  toward  God,"  —  "  expressing  the  move  signifi- 
cant fact  of  perpetual  intercommunion.  The  Face  of  the  Everlasting 
Word,  if  we  may  dare  so  to  express  ourselves,  was  ever  directed  towards 
the  Face  of  the  Everlasting  Father." 

^  The  Doctrinal  System  of  St.  John,  p.  41.  According  to  the  best  sup- 
ported reading  in  John  xvii.  11,  the  prayer  of  Christ  is:  "Holy  Father, 
keep  theiu  by  thine  own  name  which  thou  hast  given  me." 


OMISSIONS   AND   ADDITIONS.  321 

Father  and  equal  with  him  (v.  17,  18 ;  x.  30,  33).  The 
Father  is  in  him  and  he  in  the  Father  (x.  38  ;  xiv.  9, 10, 
20  ;  xvii.  21,  23).  Though  on  earth  he  is  in  heaven 
(iii.  13).  Though  from  the  Father  he  is  yet  self-ex- 
istent (v.  26). 

His  relation  to  man  evinces  his  unity  with  the  Father. 
The  life  for  lost  man  was  in  him  (i.  4),  and  communi- 
cated by  him  (iii.)-  He  is  full  of  grace  and  truth  (i.  14), 
he  preaches  the  truth  (viii.  40,  45),  and  he  is  the  truth 
itself  (xiv.  6).  Whosoever  has  seen  him  has  seen  the 
Father  also  (vi.  46  ;  x.  15  ;  xiv.  9).  Through  his  union 
with  the  Father,  all  power  is  given  him  (iii.  35  ;  xiii. 
3  ;  ii.  2),  he  gives  life  to  whom  he  will  (v.  22,  25),  he 
presents  himself  as  an  example  for  men  to  copy  (xiii. 
11),  and  he  challenges  the  Jews  to  find  a  single  blemish 
in  his  character  (viii.  46). 

On  the  other  hand  he  is  represented  as  a  human  be- 
ing, and  subject  to  the  ordinary  weaknesses  and  wants 
of  men.  When  he  fasted  he  was  hungry  and  ate  (ii.  1  ; 
xiii.  2 ;  xxi.  12).  When  he  traveled  he  was  thirsty 
and  weary  (iv.  6).  Being  grieved  he  wept  (xi.  35), 
and  being  crucified  he  died.  He  had  a  peculiarly  human 
friendship  and  affection  for  the  beloved  disciple  (xix. 
26)  and  for  the  household  in  Bethany  (vi.  5).  He 
remembered  the  claims  of  filial  duty  even  in  that 
hour  of  supreme  solemnity  on  the  cross  (xix.  26,  27). 
" '  Woman,  behold  thy  son,'  is  an  exclamation  which, 
uttered  at  such  a  moment,  places  beyond  a  doubt  that 
the  Gospel  which  sets  forth  most  strongly  the  Divinity  of 
Christ  was  also  penetrated  with  the  most  clear  apprehen- 
sion of  his  humanity." 

The  Condition  of  Man.  Before  the  grace  of  God  be- 
stowed upon  him  the  enabling  power  of  the  light  of  life, 
man  was  in  darkness,  unprepared  to  appreciate  or  receive 
the  blessings  Christ  came  to  give  (i.  5,  10,  11).     Many 

21 


322  JOHN,    THE   GOSPEL   FOR   THE   CHURCH. 

even  preferred  darkness  to  light  (iii.  19,  21),  and  were 
moved  to  opposition  to  Christ's  teaching  and  to  persecu- 
tion of  his  followers,  by  his  works  of  divine  power  (xii. 
37,  40),  and  by  the  elevation  of  himself  and  his  followers 
above  the  world  (xv.  19  ;  xvii.  14,  16).  The  state  of 
mind  which  leads  to  such  results  "  John  denotes  by  the 
vfoxdi  flesh  (yo.p^^  iii.  6  ;  viii.  15,  etc.),  and  it  is  placed  in 
the  sharpest  antagonism  to  that  possession  of  an  inner 
life,  breathed  into  the  heart  by  divine  influence,  which 
is  denominated  by  the  word  spirit  (jrvevfxa^  i.  13 ;  iii. 
5,  etc.).  From  this  condition  of  alienation  from  God, 
man  cannot  deliver  himself;  he  needs  an  intervention 
from  above  to  rescue  him  from  the  empire  of  dark- 
ness." 1 

Doctrine  of  the  Incarnation.  Christ  came  to  en- 
lighten this  darkness,  and  to  deliver  man  from  this  living 
death  which  it  involved.  "  In  him  was  life,  and  the  life 
was  the  light  of  men"  (i.  4).  "The  true  light,  which 
lighteth  every  man,  was  now  coming  into  the  world"  (i. 
9).  Such  are  the  announcements  with  which  the  Gospel 
opens.  He  came  that  men  might  have  life,  and  "  that 
they  might  have  it  more  abundantly  "  (x.  10).  He 
gives  life  to  whom  he  will  (v.  21).  He  is  himself  the 
life  (xi.  25;  xiv.  6).  He  is  the  light  of  the  world  (viii. 
12  ;  ix.  5  ;  xii.  35,  36,  46).  Such  are  the  statements 
with  which  the  Gospel  is  filled. 

In  transforming  the  flesh  into  the  spirit^  Jesus  Christ 
imparts  a  breath  from  God  to  man  to  give  him  a  new 
life  (xv.  26).  In  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  God 
man  is  born  anew  by  the  Holy  Spirit  (iii.  5),  and  his 
entire  nature  and  relation  to  God  are  changed  (iii.  6,  7, 
8).    In  connection  with  this  new  birth,  even  the  words  of 

1  See  The  Doctrinal  System  of  St.  John,  p.  67.  The  work  of  Profes- 
sor Lias  contains  an  admirable  summary  of  the  doctrines  of  the  fourth 
Gospel. 


OMISSIONS  AND  ADDITIONS.  323 

Christ,  being  in  a  sense  the  breath  of  God,  are  endued, 
though  in  an  inferior  degree,  with  a  kind  of  divine  vital- 
ity (vi.  63). 

The  foundations  of  this  new  life  are  laid  in  the  flesh 
and  blood  of  Christ,  that  is,  in  his  incarnation  and  in  his 
sacrifice  on  the  cross  (vi.  51-58). 

It  is  by  virtue  of  his  incarnation,  or  his  partaking  of 
human  nature,  that  he  becomes  the  source  of  life  to  the 
world.  He  is  the  vine  and  his  disciples  are  the  branches 
(xv.).  A  constant  stream  of  life  flows  from  him  through 
them,  a  life  which  is  governed  by  the  same  laws  as  man's 
natural  life.  It  reaches  its  maturity  by  means  of  growth 
through  nourishment.  Its  food  is  Christ,  the  living 
bread  which  came  down  from  heaven  (vi.  51),  who  is  a 
source  of  permanent  life  to  the  world  (vi.  58).  The 
operating  principle  of  this  divine  life  is  faith  in  Christ 
(iii.  18,  36  ;  vi.  29,  47  ;  xx.  31).  This  faith  leads  to 
good  works.  By  union  with  Christ,  the  vine,  alone,  a 
union  effected  by  faith,  can  the  branches  become  fruit- 
ful (xv.  4),  and  by  abiding  in  him  alone  can  they  in- 
crease in  fruitfulness  (xv.  5,  etc.).  The  new  life  of  faith 
leads  to  parity  and  truth  (xiii.  10  ;  xv.  3  ;  xvii.  19),  and 
to  mutual  love  (xiii.  35  ;  xvii.  26).  It  makes  men  again 
the  children  of  God,  and  gives  them  a  claim  upon  his  love 
(xvi.  26,  27),  and  access  to  him  in  prayer  (xiv.  13  ;  xv. 
7, 16  ;  xvi.  23-27).  It  makes  them  the  channels  of  bless- 
ing to  others  (vii.  37),  the  representatives  of  Christ  in  a 
mission  for  the  saving  of  mankind  (xiii.  20 ;  xx.  21). 

The  kingdom  of  God,  in  John's  view  of  it,  assumes  a 
new  and  more  spiritual  form.  Jesus  no  longer  confines 
himself  to  language  which  expresses  only  external  rela- 
tions. He  does  indeed  speak  of  himself  as  a  shepherd 
and  his  disciples  as  sheep  (x.),  and  of  the  gathering  of 
many  flocks  into  one  fold  (x.  16) ;  but  he  prefers  to  de- 
scribe his  kingdom  as  an  organic  whole,  and  he  constantly 


824  JOHN,   THE    GOSPEL   FOR   THE    CHURCH. 

recognizes  "  a  deep  interior  unity,  tlie  result  of  the  pos- 
session by  its  members  of  a  life  which  they  all  enjoy  in 
common,  and  Avhich  they  all  derive  from  him "  (xv.). 
In  the  intercessory  prayer  (xvii.),  he  traces  that  union  to 
its  highest  source,  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead  itself. 
He  praj^s  "  that  they  all  may  be  one  ;  as  thou.  Father,  art 
in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us  " 
(xvii.  21).  Herein  in  reality  are  to  be  found  the  com- 
munion of  saints  and  the  kingdom  of  God,  in  the  living 
union  of  believers  through  Christ  with  the  Father. 

But  back  of  the  doctrine  of  the  restoration  of  man 
through  the  implanting  of  a  divine  life  by  the  incarna- 
tion of  Christ,  there  lies  throughout  John's  Gospel  the 
doctrine  of  propitiation  by  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  Sin 
is  regarded  not  simply  as  a  disease,  from  which  the  in- 
fusion of  a  new  life  could  save,  but  rather  as  deliberate 
and  willful  disobedience  to  the  righteous  and  everlasting 
Ruler  of  the  universe.  Without  shedding  of  blood  there 
is  no  remission  of  sin  (Lev.  xvii.  11 ;  Heb.  ix.  22).  Hence 
it  is  that  John  introduces  Jesus  to  the  reader  in  the 
words  of  the  Baptist :  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  "  (i.  29).  There  was 
an  absolute  necessity  that  the  Son  should  be  "  lifted  up  " 
(iii.  14,  15)  if  he  should  ''  draw  all  men  unto  him  "  (xii. 
32).  He  lays  down  his  life  for  the  sheep  (x.  11,  15). 
He  is  identified  with  the  Paschal  Lamb  (xix.  36),  by  the 
sprinkling  of  whose  blood  upon  the  door  posts  the  Is- 
raelites could  alone  be  saved  from  destruction  (Exocl. 
xii.  13).  He  is  the  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of 
the  world,  so  that  by  partaking  of  his  flesh  and  blood 
the  world  may  be  saved. 

The  Doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  has  been  seen 
that  Luke's  teaching  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
greatly  in  advance  of  that  of  Matthew  and  Mark ;  but  it 
nowhere  approaches  the   definiteness  of    John's.     With 


OMISSIONS    AND   ADDITIONS.  325 

the  latter  he  is  the  applier  of  the  redemption  wrought  by 
Christ.  He  is  sent  by  Christ  from  the  Father  (xv.  26  ; 
xvi.  7,  8).  By  John  alone  is  he  named  the  Paraclete,  or 
the  Comforter,  as  our  version  has  it,  or  the  Helper,  as  the 
word  would,  perhaps,  be  better  rendered  (xiv.  16,  26  ; 
XV.  26  ;  xvi.  7).  He  is  a  Person,  associated  with  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  sent  into  the  world  to  convince  men 
of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment  (xvi.  8).  He 
is  the  Spirit  of  truth  who  is  to  lead  the  disciples  of  Christ 
into  all  truth  (xiv.  17  ;  xvi.  13).  He  is  to  give  life  to 
all  who  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  (iii.  5).  From 
the  time  of  Christ's  ascension  he  was  to  be  the  present 
source  of  power  with  Christ's  followers  (vii.  39  ;  xvi.  7 ; 
x^.  22,  23).  He  was  to  be  the  living  water  which  should 
spring  up  unto  everlasting  life  in  their  souls  (iv.  14  ;  vii. 
38).  The  mightier  works  which  the  disciples  were  to  do, 
after  Christ's  departure  (xiv.  12),  were  to  be  done  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  was  the  divine  Person 
wdiom  Christ  went  away  to  the  Father  to  send,  and  with- 
out whose  coming  the  work  of  redemption  could  not  have 
been  carried  out  (xvi.  7). 

The  Resui^rection  and  Judgment.  John  teaches  most 
clearly  both  the  fact  and  the  cause  of  the  resurrection. 
"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  nnto  you,  the  hour  is  coming  and 
now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
God  and  they  that  hear  shall  live  "  (v.  25).  This  is  the 
teaching  throughout  the  Gospel  (v.  28,  29  ;  vi.  39,  40, 
44,  54,  etc.).  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  :  he 
that  believeth  on  me  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he 
live :  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall 
never  die  "  (xi.  25,  26).  That  Christ  is  the  cause  of  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead  is  the  uniform  doctrine  of 
John  (x.  18  ;  xii.  24  ;  xiv.  6,  etc.). 

The  fourth  Gospel  is  equally  clear  on  the  doctrine  of 
the  judgment  and  of  the  future  hfe.     "Marvel  not  at 


326       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

tliis :  for  the  hour  is  coming  in  the  which  all  that  are  in 
the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice  and  shall  come  forth ;  they 
that  have  done  good  unto  the  resurrection  of  life  ;  and 
they  that  have  done  evil  unto  the  resurrection  of  damna- 
tion "  (v.  28,  29).  To  come  forth  from  the  grave  is, 
therefore,  to  come  forth  to  judgment,  and  there  are  but 
two  future  estates.  Those  estates  have  their  beginning 
in  this  present  life,  the  one  in  faith  in  Christ,  and  the 
other  in  the  rejection  of  him  :  "  He  that  believeth  on 
him  is  not  condemned  ;  but  he  that  believeth  not  is  con- 
demned already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  on  the 
name  of  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God  "  (iii.  18).  For, 
those  who  believe  on  him  are  the  words  of  Christ :  ''  In 
my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions.  If  it  were  not 
so  I  would  have  told  3^ou.  I  go  and  prepare  a  place 
for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will 
come  again  and  receive  you  unto  myself ;  that  where  I 
am,  there  ye  may  be  also  (xiv.  2,  3). 

Such,  in  brief  outline,  is  the  doctrinal  system  of  John's 
Gospel.  It  is  the  profoundest  of  Christian  theology, — its 
truths  ranging,  in  the  revelations  of  the  incarnate  Word, 
from  the  lowest  depths  of  the  dark  and  carnal  condition 
of  humanity  to  the  loftiest  heights  of  Divinity,  compass- 
ing, in  the  preexistent  Word  and  the  everlasting  life,  the 
two  eternities,  and  sweeping  the  whole  horizon  of  Chris- 
tian faith,  purpose,  endeavor,  achievement,  and  hope.  It 
is  the  essential  element  in  just  the  Gospel  for  the  Chris- 
tian, the  man  of  faith  in  Christ. 

Both  the  omissions  and  additions  of  this  Gospel  are 
thus  seen  to  furnish  evidence  of  the  Christian  aim  of  the 
Evangelist. 


INCIDENTAL  VARIATIONS.  327 


SECTION  IV. 

THE     CHRISTIAN    ADAPTATION     IN    THE    INCIDENTAL 
VARIATIONS   OF   THE   FOURTH   GOSPEL. 

The  adaptation  of  John's  Gospel  to  the  Christian  needs 
appears  also  in  the  manifold  minor  variations  and  pecul- 
iarities. 

I.  Incidental  Variations. 

Narrative  Changes.  The  Christian  aim  may  be  traced 
in  the  narratives  given  by  John  in  common  with  the 
other  Evangelists. 

There  is  but  one  such  narrative  before  the  record  of 
the  triumphal  entry  into  the  Holy  City,  —  the  miracu- 
lous multiplication  of  the  loaves  and  fishes  (Matt.  xiv. 
13-32 ;  Mark  vi.  32-51 ;  Luke  ix.  10-17  ;  John  vi.  1- 
15).  A  careful  comparison  of  the  four  forms  of  this 
narrative  will  bring  out  the  distinctive  touches  of  each  of 
the  Evangelists.  In  that  given  by  John  it  will  be  ob- 
served in  particular,  that  certain  explanatory  clauses  are 
introduced  for  the  benefit  of  the  non-Jewish  readers.  He 
tells  us  that  Jesus  "  went  over  the  sea  of  Galilee,  which 
is  the  sea  of  Tiberias''''  (vi.  1)  ;  that  he  "went  up  into  a 
mountain^''  (3)  ;  that  ^Hhe  Passover^  a  feast  of  the  Jeivs^ 
was  nigh  "  (4)  ;  that  "  there  was  much  grass  in  the  place  " 
(10),  etc.  Here  and  there  by  the  way  his  pen  touches 
the  spiritual  and  divine  in  Jesus  and  his  mission.  He 
alone  tells  us  of  the  solemn  lifting  up  of  the  eyes  of  the 
great  Teacher  (5)  ;  that  even  when  Jesus  asked  Philip 
about  buying  bread  for  the  multitude,  he  was  omniscient 
and  did  not  need  an  answer  :  "  And  this  he  said  to  prove 
him  ;  for  he  himself  knew  what  he  ivoidd  do'''  (6)  ;  that 
''■those  men^  ivhen  they  had  seen  the  miracle  that  Jesus 
did,  said,  Tliis  is  of  a  truth  that  prophet  that  should  come 
into  the  world.     When  Jesus  therefore  perceived  that  they 


328       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

would  come  and  take  him  hy  force ^  to  make  him  a  king^  he 
departed  again  into  a  mountain  himself  alone  "  (14,  15), 
etc. 

But  most  characteristic  of  all  is  the  fact,  already  ad- 
verted to,  that  John,  instead  of  pausing  with  the  account 
of  the  storm  on  the  lake,  as  the  rest  of  the  Evangelists 
do,  proceeds  to  give  —  in  double  the  space  he  devotes  to 
the  event  —  that  practical  and  spiritual  application  of 
the  miracle  (vi.  25-59),  so  much  more  important  than 
the  mere  event,  the  sum  of  which  is  found  in  the  words 
of  Jesus  :  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life.  Whoso  eateth  my 
flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood  hath  eternal  life.'*'' 

It  has  also  been  observed  that  the  fourth  Evangelist 
has  his  own  way  of  avoiding  the  parables  and  similitudes 
in  narrative  form,  which  abound  in  the  other  Gospels ; 
while  by  means  of  the  more  vivid  metaphor  he  brings 
out  with  the  greatest  clearness  the  spiritual  truths  in- 
volved. In  the  other  Gospels  he  compares  himself  to  a 
shepherd  who  seeks  after  and  brings  back  the  strav  sheep 
(Matt,  xviii.  12,  13  ;  Luke  xv.  3-7)  ;  in  John  he  says,  / 
am  the  good  shepherd.  The  good  shepherd  giveth  his  life 
for  tlie  sheep  (xii.).  In  the  other  Gospels  he  compares 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  a  vineyard  and  to  a  marriage 
feast  (Matt.  xxi.  28-44  ;  Mark  xii.  1-11  ;  Luke  xx.  9- 
18)  ;  but  in  John  Jesus  is  himself  the  viyie  and  his  Fa- 
ther the  husbandman  (xv.  1)  ;  he  is  himself  the  bride- 
groom (iii.  29). 

These  Christian  features  may  be  traced  throughout  all 
those  portions  of  the  fourth  Gospel  that  have  anything 
in  common  with  the  productions  of  the  other  Evangelists. 

Slighter  Additions.  There  are  also  to  be  found  in 
John's  Gospel,  in  single  sentences  and  minute  touches, 
the  most  remarkable  elucidations  and  incidental  confirma- 
tions of  what  is  contained  in  the  other  three. 

This  may  be  illustrated  by  the  false  testimony  men- 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  329 

tioned  by  Matthew  (xxvi.  61)  and  Mark  (xiv.  57,  58). 
John  alone  tells  ns  that,  in  the  first  cleansing  of  the  Tem- 
ple, after  the  opening  of  his  ministry,  when  the  Jews 
asked  Jesus  for  a  sign  of  his  authority,  he  "  answered  and 
said  unto  them.  Destroy  this  temple^  and  in  three  days  I 
rvill  raise  it  up  "  (ii.  19).  That  saying,  uttered  prophet- 
ically by  Jesus,  the  false  witnesses  had  interpreted  as  re- 
ferring to  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  :  "  We  heard  him  say, 
I  will  destroy  this  temple  that  is  made  with  hands,  and 
within  three  days  I  will  build  another  made  without 
hands  "  (Mark  xiv.  58). 

So  John  alone  tells  us  that  the  real  cause  of  the  flock. 
ing  together  of  the  people  and  of  their  acclamations  on 
the  entry  into  Jerusalem — facts  recorded  by  Matthew 
(xxi.  10,  11),  Mark  (xi.  8-10),  and  Luke  (xix.  37)  — 
was  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead :  "  The 
people  therefore  that  tvas  with  him  ivhen  he  called  Lazarus 
out  of  his  grave^  and  raised  him  from  the  dead^  hare  record. 
For  this  cause  the  people  also  met  him,  for  that  they  heard 
that  he  had  done  this  miracle  "  (xii.  17,  18). 

It  may  be  remarked  incidentally  that  the  other  Evan- 
gelists could  not  give  this  cause.  They  did  not  record 
this  most  notable  of  miracles,  perhaps  partly  for  the  rea- 
son that,  if  they  had  done  so,  the  Sanhedrim  which  had 
"  consulted  that  they  might  put  Lazarus  also  to  death, 
because  that  by  reason  of  him  many  of  the  Jews  went 
away  and  believed  on  Jesus  "  (John  xii.  10,  11),  would 
have  carried  out  their  bloody  purpose  ;  and  partly  for  the 
reason  that  the  teachings  concerning  the  resurrection 
were  not  suited  to  their  unspiritual  readers.  When  John 
wrote,  Jerusalem  had  been  long  since  destroyed  and  the 
danger  to  the  family  of  Lazarus  was  past ;  while  his  Gos- 
pel would  have  been  essentially  incomplete  without  the 
sublime  instruction  given  on  that  occasion. 

Only  the  fourth  Evangelist  tells  us  that,  when  Mary 


330  JOHN,   THE    GOSPEL   FOR   THE   CHURCH. 

anointed  Jesus,  ''  the  house  was  filled  with  the  odor  of 
the  ointment''^  (xii.  3)  ;  that  it  was  '•'- one  of  his  disciples, 
Judas  Iscariot^  Simon's  son  "  that  said,  "  Why  was  not 
this  ointment  sold  for  three  hundred  pence  and  given  to 
the  poor  "  (xii.  4).  He  alone  makes  it  appear  fully  that 
it  was  avarice  that  moved  the  traitor's  heart :  '^  This  he 
said,  not  that  he  cared  for  the  'poor  ;  hut  because  he  was 
a  thief,  and  had  the  hag,  and  hare  (that  is,  stole  ouf) 
ivhat  was  put  therein''^  (xii.  6).  Only  he  brings  out  the 
real  tenderness  of  the  anointing  by  Mary  and  reveals  her 
faith,  as  surpassing  that  of  the  Twelve,  by  declaring  that 
she  had  kept  the  precious  ointment  for  this  occasion : 
"  Against  the  day  of  my  burying  hath  she  kept  this  "  oint- 
ment (xii.  7). 

These  are  but  specimens  of  the  Christian  touches  by 
which  the  beloved  disciple  adds  to  the  fullness  and  beauty 
and  spiritual  power  of  all  the  Gospel  material  which  he 
has  in  common  with  the  other  Evangelists. 

Word  Changes.  But  in  a  Gospel  embracing  so  much 
that  is  different  in  matter  and  in  spirit  from  the  contents 
of  the  other  Gospels,  the  greatest  variations  must  evi- 
dently be  found  in  the  vocabulary  as  marking  out  the 
range  of  new  ideas.  This  is  in  part  manifest  from  the 
Johannean  system  of  Christian  doctrine  already  given  ; 
but  it  may  be  made  clearer  by  an  examination  of  some  of 
the  characteristic  words  and  expressions.  John's  is  an 
eminently  Christian  vocabulary. 

Common  Words.  The  comparative  infrequency  of  those 
words  of  theology  and  experience  which  properly  have 
special  reference  to  the  earlier  contact  of  the  soul  with 
Christ  may  first  be  noted.  IMatthew  uses  the  word  sinner 
five  times;  Mark,  six  times;  Luke,  seventeen  times; 
John,  four  times.  Matthew  uses  the  words  repent  and 
repentance  five  and  three  times  respectively;  Mark, 
twice  each  ;  Luke,  nine  and  five  times  ;  John,  not  at  all. 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  331 

Matthew  uses  righteous  nineteen  times  ;  Mark,  twice  ; 
Luke,  eleven  times  ;  John,  three  times.  Matthew  uses 
justify  twice ;  Luke,  five  times ;  Mark  and  John  do  not 
use  it.  The  fair  inference  from  these  and  like  examples 
is  that  John  does  not  deal  largely  with  the  ideas  expressed 
by  these  words,  and  that  the  ideas  belong  rather  to  that 
earlier  stage  of  the  Gospel  represented  by  the  other  Evan- 
gelists. In  other  words  John's  is  not  the  Gospel  that 
deals  with  the  fundamental  conceptions  of  sin,  repentance, 
etc.,  in  their  simpler  forms. 

The  frequent  recurrence  in  John  of  the  words  which 
belong  to  the  later  or  higher  phases  of  Gospel  experi- 
ence is  still  more  marked.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  whole 
cycle  of  words  connected  with  the  Christian  life  is  used 
with  remarkable  frequency  by  John. 

Judged  by  its  vocabulary  John's  is  preeminently  the 
Gospel  of  faith.  It  is  a  favorite  idea  with  certain  skep- 
tical writers,  that  the  foundation  of  Paul's  system  is  faith, 
while  that  of  John's  is  love.  "  We  hear,  on  high  author- 
ity," says  a  writer  already  referred  to,  "  that  the  influ- 
ence of  St.  Paul  on  Christian  theology  is  destined  hence- 
forth to  decline,  and  that  the  Christianity  of  the  future 
will  be  colored  principally  by  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle 
of  love."  ^  The  truth  is  that,  in  the  facts  of  the  New 
Testament,  there  is  not  the  slightest  foundation  for  such 
a  distinction.  Matthew  uses  the  word  believe  eleven 
times ;  Mark,  fifteen  times ;  Luke,  nine  times ;  John,  in 
his  Gospel  alone,  one  hundred  times,  or  almost  as  many 
times  as  all  the  other  New  Testament  writers  —  Paul  in- 
cluded—  taken  together.  In  fact,  if  such  a  distinction 
is  to  be  made  —  which  we  deny,  on  the  ground  of  the 
essential  harmony  of  the  two  —  John  ought  rather  to  be 
called  the  Apostle  of  faith  and  Paul  the  Apostle  of  love ; 

1  The  Doctrinal  System  of  St.  John,  p.  76.     The  authority  referred  to  is 
Matthew  Arnold,  "  St.  Paul  and  Protestantism." 


332       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

for,  while  the  word  love  (ayaTrr;)  occurs  only  seven  times 
in  John's  Gospel  and  seventeen  times  in  his  first  Epistle, 
it  is  found  seventy-three  times  (often  translated  charity') 
in  Paul's  writings.  It  remains  indisputable  that  John 
makes  faith  far  more  prominent  than  any  other  writer  in 
the  Bible,  so  that  if  this  one  word  were  blotted  out  of  his 
Gospel,  its  harmony  would  be  gone,  and  there  would  be 
left  little  more  than  an  unintelligible  jargon. 

It  is  nevertheless  true  that,  as  compared  with  the  other 
Gospels,  the  fourth  is  the  Gospel  of  spiritual  love.  This 
is  another  side  of  the  many-sided  truth,  —  its  divine 
rather  than  its  human  aspect.  Matthew  uses  the  verb 
expressing  reverential  love  five  times  ;  Mark,  once  ;  Luke, 
twice ;  John,  thirteen  times.  Matthew  makes  use  of  love^  as 
expressing  personal  attachment,  eight  times  ;  Mark,  five 
times  ;  Luke,  thirteen  times  ;  John,  thirty-seven  times. 
From  this  point  of  view  everything  may  be  said  to  be 
comprehended  in  love.  The  Father  loves  the  Son  (John 
V.  20).  The  Son  loves  his  own  ;  he  loves  them  to  the 
end  (xiii.  1).  The  Father,  in  like  manner,  loves  them, 
and  hath  loved  them  (xvii.  23).  Jesus  loves  them  with  a 
special  personal  love,  each  by  name.  He  loved  Lazarus, 
and  Mary,  and  Martha,  and  the  disciple  who  lay  in  his 
bosom  at  the  paschal  table  (xi.  5  ;  xiii.  23).  Upon  the 
one  word  love^  in  its  two  senses  and  its  many  relations, 
the  restoration  of  Peter,  at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  turned 
(xxi.  15-17).  It  is  in  harmony  with  this  feature  that 
John's  is  the  Gospel  of  the  Fatlierhood  of  God.  The 
word  Father.,  in  its  application  to  God,  occurs  in  Matthew 
forty-four  times ;  in  Mark,  five  times ;  in  Luke,  twenty 
times  ;  in  John,  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  times.  In 
no  other  Gospel,  therefore,  when  God  is  spoken  of,  does 
the  name  of  Father^  the  Father,  my  Father,  recur  so  often, 
in  its  special  and  exclusive  relation  to  Jesus.  It  is  a 
direct  consequence  of  this  relation  of  God  as  a  Father, 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  333 

that  John's  is  the  Gospel  of  the  giving  grace  of  God. 
"  As  all  things  in  this  Gospel  are  viewed  and  represented 
in  their  highest  causes,  in  their  deepest  foundations  ;  in 
like  manner  do  we  find  in  it  the  word  and  the  idea  of 
God's  gift  and  giving^  occurring  with  the  same  frequency. 
The  first  cause  in  all  things  is  the  gift  of  God.  What 
the  Father  hath  given  to  the  Son,  what  anew  the  Son 
gives  or  hath  given  to  men,  to  those  who  believe  in  him, 
is  again  and  again  pressed  on  the  attention." 

So  John's  is  in  an  important  sense  the  Gospel  for  all  the 
world.  It  has  been  shown  that  Luke's  is  the  Gospel  for 
the  Greek,  the  representative  of  universal  humanity  in 
its  unrenewed  condition.  So  it  appears  that  John's  is  in 
a  peculiar  sense  the  Gospel  for  renewed  humanity. 
Matthew  uses  the  word  world  nine  times ;  Mark,  three 
times ;  Luke,  three  times  ;  John,  seventy-nine  times. 
John  sometimes  employs  the  word  to  express  mankind 
collectively  as  distinguished  from  or  opposed  to  God  their 
Creator,  as  in  the  words  to  Nicodemus,  "  God  so  loved 
the  world  "  (John  iii.  16)  ;  sometimes  the  majority  of  the 
race  as  opposed  to  Israel  or  to  believers,  as  in  the  Samari- 
tan's exclamation,  "  We  know  that  this  is  indeed  the 
Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world  "  (John  iv.  42)  ;  some- 
times an  indefinite  multitude  or  extension,  as  in  the  ex- 
clamation of  the  Pharisees,  "Behold  the  world  is  gone 
after  him  "  (John  xii.  19).  The  use  of  the  word  in  the 
first  two  senses  is  so  frequent  as  to  demonstrate  the  uni- 
versal reach  and  application  of  the  last  Gospel. 

In  like  manner  the  fourth  Gospel,  judged  by  its  vocab- 
ulary is  the  Gospel  of  spiritual  truths  lights  and  life. 
Matthew  uses  truth  once  ;  Mark,  three  times ;  Luke, 
three  times  ;  John,  twenty-five  times.  The  first  three 
Evangelists  use  the  word  true  only  once,  while  John  uses 
it  twenty-one  times.  Men  are  freed  from  spiritual  bond- 
age  and   sanctified   through   the  truth.      Christ  before 


334       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHUECH. 

Pilate  declared  himself  to  be  a  King,  establishing  a  king- 
dom not  of  this  world,  —  a  kingdom  of  truth  (xiv.  6). 
Matthew  uses  the  word  light  seven  times  ;  Mark,  once ; 
Luke,  six  times  ;  John,  twenty -two  times.  Matthew  uses 
life  seven  times ;  Mark,  four  times ;  Luke,  six  times  ; 
John,  thirty-six  times.  Matthew  uses  everlasting  life 
three  times ;  Mark,  twice ;  Luke,  three  times ;  John, 
seventeen  times.  It  has  often  been  remarked  that  with 
John  these  expressions  bear  a  peculiarly  mystical  and 
spiritual  character.  He  links  the  life  and  the  light  with 
each  other  and  identifies  Christ  with  the  truth,  the  light, 
and  the  life. 

Peculiar  Words.  The  spiritual  truth  and  Christian 
aim  of  the  fourth  Gospel  appear  with  equal  clearness  in 
words  and  expressions  altogether  peculiar  to  itself.  The 
Evangelist  uses  to  some  extent  a  vocabulary  of  his  own 
in  speaking  of  Christ  and  his  work. 

In  the  opening  sentence  of  the  Gospel,  Christ  is  thrice 
designated  as  the  Word  (Logos).  No  one  has  shown  this 
Word  to  us,  in  his  incarnation,  in  such  a  multiplicity 
of  aspects  as  John,  —  in  contact  and  controversy  with 
men,  arguing  with  sinful  men,  and  enduring  their  re- 
proaches and  scoffs ;  called  a  Samaritan  and  one  that 
hath  a  devil ;  the  hand  of  man  incessantly  lifted  up 
against  him  to  seize  him,  to  stone  him,  to  crucify  him. 

John  alone  calls  Jesus  the  Lamh  of  God.  He  alone 
represents  Jesus  himself  as  declaring,  that  "  as  Moses 
lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness  even  so  must  the 
Son  of  man  be  lifted  up  ;  "  and  that  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  me." 

No  other  Evangelist  uses  the  expression.  Verily,  verily, 
even  once,  but  John  uses  it  twenty-five  times.  As  the 
others  make  use  of  the  single  verily  only,  it  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  second  word  is  John's  own,  "  the  response 
of  his  faith  to  the  faithfulness  of  his  Lord,  like  the  in- 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  335 

stantaneous  echo  by  tlie  rocks  of  a  peal  of  thunder." 
The  careful  observer,  however,  will  note  the  fact  that  the 
double  word  is  uniformly  connected  with  sayings  pecul- 
iar to  John,  in  short,  with  his  expression  of  the  great 
life-and-death  truths  of  Christianity.  The  double  verily 
is  therefore  better  explained  as  being,  what  it  purports  to 
be,  an  expression  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  himself,  and  in- 
tended to  emphasize  those  great  spiritual  truths  which  do 
not  appear  in  the  same  form  in  the  other  Gospels.  If 
any  one  will  write  out  the  passages  from  John  that  are 
prefaced  by  it,  he  will  see  that  they  sum  up  all  the  glo- 
rious and  solemn  verities  of  the  Gospel  in  its  relation  to 
life  here  and  hereafter,  so  that,  if  John's  Gospel  is  the 
heart  of  Christy  the  double  verilies  are  the  heart  of  the 
heart  of  Christ. 

II.   Other  Peculiarities. 

In  addition  to  these  indications  of  the  Christian  aim 
of  John's  Gospel,  drawn  from  its  conceptions  and  doc- 
trines, there  are  still  others  of  a  different  character  which 
at  the  same  time  mark  its  late  origin  and  fit  it  for  the 
Christian  Church. 

First  of  these  may  be  noticed  the  manner  in  which 
the  Gospel  deals  with  the  Jewish  Scriptures. 

Unlike  the  Gospels  according  to  Mark  and  Luke,  that 
according  to  John  constantly  refers  to  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures.  In  this  respect  it  is  like  that  according  to 
Matthew.  It  is  therefore  certain  that  John  wrote  for 
those  who  were  familiarly  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures, 
This  was  true  of  the  Christian  Church  throughout  the 
v^orld  at  the  close  of  the  first  century,  while  it  certainly 
■was  not  true  of  the  Romans  and  Greeks  at  the  time  when 
Mark  and  Luke  wrote  for  them. 

That  John  did  not  write  for  Jews  alone  is  proved  by 
th6  fact  that  he  is  careful  to  describe  places  in  Judaea 


836  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR    THE   CHURCH. 

(iv.  5  ;  y.  2 ;  xviii.  1)  ;  to  explain  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms familiar  to  all  Jews  (ii.  6,  13  ;  iv.  9  ;  v.  1 ;  vi.  9 ; 
X.  22  ;  xi.  33,  44,  55  ;  xix.  31,  39-42)  ;  and  to  interpret 
Hebrew  words  (i.  38,  42;  ix.  7  ;  xix.  13,  17  ;  xx.  16). 
He  must  therefore  have  written  for  persons  unacquainted 
with  the  country,  customs,  and  language  of  Palestine. 

That  he  did  not  write  merely  for  those  who  understood 
the  Greek  language  only,  or  best,  appears  from  the  fact 
that,  while  the  other  Evangehsts  appeal  for  the  most  part 
to  the  Septuagint  or  Greek  version  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, John  appeals  sometimes  to  it  (i.  23  ;  ii.  17  ;  vi.  45 ; 
X.  34  ;  xii.  14,  15  ;  xv.  35  ;  xix.  24,  36)  ;  biit  sometimes 
turns  to  the  Hebrew  original,  as  if  to  the  final  standard 
of  appeal  (xii.  40  ;  viii.  18  ;  xix.  37).  He  writes  not 
only  for  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  Septuagint, 
but  for  all  the  world  of  Christians. 

It  is  likewise  in  conformity  with  this  view  and  confirm- 
atory of  it,  that  John  so  often  refers  his  readers  to  the 
prophecies  of  the  Scriptures.  It  has  already  been  seen 
that  he  makes  a  score  or  more  of  such  references  ;  that 
these  usually  take  for  granted  that  the  persons  addressed 
are  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures  ;  and  that,  while  in 
the  first  half  of  his  Gospel  the  references  are  chiefly  con- 
fined to  fact  and  law,  in  the  second  half  they  are  confined 
to  the  prophecies  fulfilled  in  Christ's  unfolding  of  the 
Christian  life  and  familiar  to  all  Christians.  Da  Costa 
has  well  remarked  that  these  passages  are  "  for  the 
greater  part  entirely  new,  and,  so  to  speak,  fresh  in  St. 
John,  never  having  been  cited  anywhere  before  in  the 
New  Testament.  The  form  or  manner  of  the  quotation, 
too,  is  somehow  differently  modified,  and  has  a  depth 
and  subtlety  not  to  be  found  in  the  other  Gospels  ;  as 
when,  at  the  purification  of  the  Temple,  after  recording 
the  words  of  our  Lord :  '  Take  these  things  hence  ;  make 
not  my  Father^ s  house  an  house  of  merchandise  '  (ii.  16)  ; 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  337 

we  find  this  followed  by  the  quotation  of  one  of  the  pro- 
phetical sayings  in  the  book  of  Psalms :  '  And  Jits  dis- 
ciples reynembered  that  it  was  ivritten^  The  zeal  of  thine 
house  hath  eaten  me  up'  (Ps.  v.  17)."  This  peculiarity  in 
the  manner  of  quotation  is  also  illustrated  in  the  discourse 
with  the  Jews  in  the  synagogue  at  Capernaum  (vi.  44, 
45)  ;  in  the  call  on  the  last  day  of  the  feast  of  Taberna- 
cles (vii.  37,  38)  ;  in  Christ's  reproof  of  the  Jews  for  their 
unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart  (xii.  36-41)  ;  when  the 
traitor  is  pointed  out  at  the  supper  (xiii.  18)  ;  in  what 
fell  from  Christ's  lips  at  the  paschal  feast  (xv.  25)  ; 
among  the  last  words  on  the  cross  (xix.  28)  ;  and  when 
the  legs  of  the  malefactors  wT-re  broken  (xix.  36).  It 
will  readily  be  seen  that  these  passages  also  illustrate 
with  equal  force  the  eminently  spiritual  view  which 
John  takes  of  the  various  facts  in  the  life  of  Christ  to 
which  they  refer.  Of  such  references  to  prophecy  it  may 
be  said  that  none  of  them  are  made,  as  are  those  in 
Matthew,  for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating  for  the  Jew 
the  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  but  rather  all  of  them  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  out  the  profound  spiritual  truths  in- 
volved and  of  supreme  interest  to  the  soul  of  the  be- 
liever. 

The  student  of  the  Gospels  will  readily  observe  for  him- 
self the  same  features  in  John's  references  to  what  was 
prophetical  in  our  Lord's  own  words,  as  when  he  compares 
his  approaching  crucifixion  and  resurrection  to  a  destroy- 
ing and  building  up  again  of  the  temple  of  God  (ii.  22), 
and  in  the  record  of  Pilate's  sentence  (xviii.  31,  32)  ; 
and  again  in  the  record  of  the  unconscious  j^rophecies  of 
enemies,  as  when  Caiaphas  urges  the  Sanhedrim  to  take 
measures  against  Jesus  (xi.  49-51),  and  when  Pilate 
places  the  title,  in  the  three  representative  languages, 
over  the  cross  (xix.  19-22). 

A  second  of  these  peculiar  indications  of  John's  later 


338       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

date  and  Christian  aim  is  found  in  the  manner  in  which 
he  deals  with  the  Jewish  people. 

Matthew  uses  the  appellation  Jews^  five  times  ;  Mark, 
seven  times  ;  Luke,  five  times  ;  John,  seventy-one  times. 
This  furnishes  evidence  that  the  fourth  Gospel  was  written 
subsequently  to  the  others,  at  a  period  when  the  Christian 
bod}^,  whether  Hebrew  or  Gentile,  had  crystallized  into 
the  Church,  and  detached  themselves  entirely  from  the 
apostate  and  hostile  Jews,  whom  they  regarded  as  a  sepa- 
rate body,  and  who  were  then  known  over  the  world  as 
Jeivs.  "  Throughout  this  Gospel,"  as  Wordsworth  has 
said,  '-''the  Jews^  represented  by  their  leaders,  the  priests 
and  Pharisees,  are  contemplated  ah  extra,  and  are  spoken 
of  in  the  third  person  as  a  separate  body,  such  as  they 
Jiad  become  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  when  those  who 
adhered  to  Judaism  were  distinguished  by  bitter  hostility 
to  the  Church."  ^ 

Moreover,  the  intimate  connection  of  Judaism  and 
Christianity  rendered  it  necessary  that  the  Evangelist  for 
the  Christian  Church  should  explain  the  great  and  every- 
where patent  fact  of  the  apostasy  of  the  Jewish  race, 
which  fact  might  else  have  furnished  a  powerful  a  priori 
argument  against  Christianity  itself.  Hence  it  is  that 
in  the  fourth  Gospel  the  conflict  of  light  and  life 
with  darkness  and  death  takes  shape  in  the  conflict  of 
Jesus  with  the  carnally  minded  Jews.  The  central  and 
closing  portions  of  the  Gospel  are  filled  with  the  record 
of  the  strife.  The  effort  to  bring  Jesus  to  a  judicial  trial 
is  followed  by  attempts  to  mob  and  stone  him,  and  these 
again  by  the  plottings  of  the  great  Jewish  Council  which 
result  in  his  apprehension  and  crucifixion.  John's  sketch 
of  the  conflict  between  the  blind,  hypocritical,  and  malig- 
nant Jewish  formalists,  and  the  sincere,  spiritual,  and 
divine  Christ,  was  needed  to  strip  the  apostate  Jews  of 
1  Wordsworth,  St.  John's  Gospel,  Introduction.      * 


INCIDENTAL   VARIATIONS.  339 

the  power  they  would  otherwise  have  possessed,  and 
which  they  would  most  certainly  have  exercised,  to  cor- 
rupt and  destroy  the  Churcli  of  Christ. 

Still  another,  and  third,  of  these  peculiar  indications 
of  John's  Christian  aim  is  found  in  the  complete  unfold- 
ing of  the  Jewish  practical  religion  exhibited  in  this 
Gospel. 

The  old  religion  was  the  precursor  of  the  new,  and 
contained  its  germ.  The  proper  development  of  the  old 
was  intended  to  lead  to  the  new.  In  other  words,  the 
Jewish  religion  was  the  world-religion  in  its  typical 
and  undeveloped  form,  while  the  Christian  religion  was 
the  same  world-religion  in  its  spiritual  and  developed 
form.  "  The  law  was  given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and 
truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ."  As  the  old  JevWsh  relig- 
ious life  reached  its  perfection  in  connection  with  the  re- 
ligious institutions  and  festivals,  it  was  both  natural  and 
necessary  that  the  new  Christian  life  should  first  be  de- 
veloped in  connection  with  these. 

Da  Costa  has  brought  out  the  marked  prominence  of 
the  religious  festivals  in  the  fourth  Gospel,  with  great 
clearness.  "  Wliile  the  other  three  Gospels  speak  of  but 
one  of  these,  the  Passover,  and  principally,  if  not  solely, 
of  that  Passover  at  which  Jesus  was  crucified  ;  our  fourth 
Gospel  mentions  many  such  festive  occasions,  and  several 
different  paschal  feasts."  ^ 

Vastly  more  significant  and  important,  however,  is  the 
fact  that  John  makes  these  religious  festivals  the  central 
points  in  the  presentation  of  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  for 
the  Christian  soul.  The  entire  unfolding  of  spiritual 
truth  by  Christ  is  thus  connected  with  the  central  places 
and  movements  of  the  Jewish  religious  life,  which  held 

1  For  the  Passovers  mentioned,  see  John  ii.  23  ;  r.  1  ;  vi.  4  ;  xii.  1 . 
John  also  mentions  the  feast  of  Tabernacles  (vii.  2),  and  the  feast  of 
the  Dedication  (x.  22). 


340  JOHN,   THE   GOSPEL   FOR    THE   CHURCH. 

embodied  tlie  highest  truth  of  the  old  dispensation. 
lie  is  the  Lamb  of  God,  himself  the  sacrifice,  the  ful- 
fillment of  all  the  sacrifices,  the  Passover.  His  lifting  up 
is  therefore  naturally  and  necessarily  identified  with  the 
Jewish  Passover.  The  Jewish  and  Christian  stages  of 
tlie  world-religion  were  thus  shown  to  be  but  parts  of 
the  one  plan  of  God,  so  that  the  latter  could  only  appear 
among  men  as  it  was  unfolded  from  the  former. 

A  fourth,  last,  and  most  conclusive  of  these  indications 
of  the  Christian  aim  of  John  is  to  be  found  in  the  prom- 
inence which  his  Gospel  gives  to  the  relations  of  Christ, 
through  his  sacrifice,  to  the  Christian  hfe. 

Jesus  is  the  Lamb  of  God,  the  sin  bearer  of  the  world 
(i.  29,  36),  who  gives  his  own  flesh  and  blood  for  the  hfe 
of  the  world.  Matthew  and  Mark  speak  onee  each  of 
the  time  of  Christ's  sacrifice  as  the  hour :  "  Behold  the 
hour  is  at  hand  and  the  son  of  man  is  betrayed  into  the 
hands  of  sinners  "  (Matt.  xxvi.  45)  ;  "It  is  enough,  the 
hour  is  come  "  (Mark  xiv.  41).  But  in  John's  Gospel  the 
hour  of  the  cross  is  regarded  as  the  central  hour  in  the 
whole  ministry  of  Christ,  to  which  everything  moves 
forward  and  in  which  everything  centres.  This  is  seen 
in  his  declining  on  various  occasions  to  make  a  public 
manifestation  of  his  Messiahship,  because  his  hour  is  not 
yet  come  (John  ii.  4  ;  vii.  30  ;  viii.  20).  It  is  the  cen- 
tral hour  of  the  world's  history.  At  the  last  Passover 
his  hour  is  heralded  by  the  coming  of  certain  Greeks,  as 
representatives  of  the  world,  who  desire  to  see  him  (xii. 
23).  It  is  the  central  hour  in  God's  plan  of  all  things, 
and  on  this  ground  Jesus,  in  the  opening  of  the  interces- 
sory prayer,  bases  his  plea  for  his  glorification  (xvii.  1). 

In  the  I  ams  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  himself, 
as  given  by  John,  is  summed  up  the  fullest  possible  ex- 
liibition  of  his  person  and  work,  and  of  that  perfect 
satisfaction  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  all  men  which  is  to 
be  found  only  in  him. 


INCIDENTAL   VAKIATIONS.  341 

To  the  woman  of  Samaria  he  said,  "  /that  speak  unto 
thee  am  "  the  Messiah  (iv.  26)  ;  to  the  disciples  in  the 
storm  on  the  sea,  "it  is  I  (literally  I  am)  ;  be  not 
afraid  "  (vi.  20).  To  the  Jews  he  declares,  ''  I  am  the 
bread  of  life  "  (vi.  36,  48)  ;  '-''  I  am  the  bread  which  came 
down  from  heaven  "  (vi.  41,  51).  In  presenting  his  re- 
lation to  the  Father,  he  says,  "  /  am  from  him  and  he 
hath  sent  me."  "  /  am  the  light  of  the  world  "  (viii. 
12  ;  ix.  5).  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Before 
Abraham  was,  I  am  "  (viii.  58). 

Still  more  tenderly  does  he  present  himself  to  his  own. 
'-'- 1  am  the  door  of  the  sheep"  (x.  7,  9).  "J  am  the 
good  shepherd :  the  good  shepherd  giveth  his  life  for  the 
sheep  "  (x.  11, 14).  "  /  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  " 
(xi.  25,  26).  "Ye  call  me  Master  and  Lord;  and  ye 
say  well ;  for  I  am  "  (xiii.  13).  "  1  am  the  way,  and  the 
truth,  and  the  life"  (xiv.  6).  '•''lam  the  true  vine,  and 
my  Father  is  the  husbandman  "  (xv.  1).  "  Z  am  the 
vine,  ye  are  the  branches"  (xv.  5).  "Jesus  saitli  unto 
them,  /  am  he.  And  Judas  also  which  betrayed  him, 
stood  with  them.  As  soon,  then,  as  he  had  said  unto 
them,  I  am  he,  they  went  backward,  and  fell  to  the 
ground  "  (xviii.  5,  6).  "  Thou  say  est  that  I  am  a  King  " 
(xviii.  37). 

So  completely  does  Jesus,  according  to  John's  Gospel, 
present  himself  as  the  centre  of  all  things,  —  of  self-ex- 
istence, of  eternity,  of  immutability,  of  omnipotence,  of 
all  the  resources  that  are  found  in  God  ;  the  source  of  all 
things,  —  of  light,  of  life,  of  comfort,  of  strength,  of 
blessedness,  of  immortality,  of  all  the  treasures  that  the 
Christian  soul  can  desire. 

SUIVOIARY. 

,  In  the  light  of  the  survey  which  has  been  taken  of 
John's  Gospel,  its  Christian  aim  and  adaptation  cannot 
reasonably  be  doubted. 


342       JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 

It  has  been  shown  to  be  a  historical  fact  that  John,  the 
beloved  disciple,  a  man  eminently  fitted  for  the  work  both 
by  his  character  and  experience,  wrote  this  Gospel  at  the 
end  of  the  first  century  for  the  Christian  Church,  a  spir- 
itual organization  made  up  of  men  saved  out  of  all  the 
great  races  of  the  apostolic  age  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  the  earlier  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  by  faith 
in  Christ.  This  is  the  firm  historical  basis  for  the  true 
theory  of  the  fourth  Gospel. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  the  Gospel  itself  bears 
throughout  the  evidence  of  its  Christian  origin  and  aim. 
Its  plan  is  but  the  unfolding  of  the  central  idea  of  the 
Incarnate  Word  as  the  light  and  life  of  the  world.  Its 
omissions  and  additions  of  material  were  made  to  suit  it 
to  the  Christian  soul  and  its  needs.  All  its  incidental 
changes,  its  doctrinal  system,  and  its  special  peculiarities, 
unite  in  demonstrating  its  Christian  adaptation.  In 
short,  the  Christian  idea  shapes  and  moulds  everything 
in  it  from  the  organic  idea  down  through  the  rhetorical 
forms  to  the  very  vocabulary  itself. 

It  may  therefore  be  justly  claimed,  that  the  historical 
and  critical  views  combine  to  establish  the  theory  that 
John  was  originally  the  Gospel  for  the  Christian,  and  to 
make  it  plain  that  this  theory  furnishes  the  true  key  to 
the  Gospel. 


CONCLUSION. 

THE  GOSPEL  FOR  ALL  THE  WORLD. 

The  answer  proposed  to  the  question,  Why  four  Gos- 
pels ?  is  patent  from  the  preceding  studies  of  the  Evan- 
gelists. It  entered  into  the  purpose  of  God  from  the 
beginning,  to  give  the  divine  religion  of  the  Christian 
revelation  to  all  mankind.  The  great  commission  sent 
the  Apostles  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  In 
its  fulfillment  it  required  just  so  many  and  just  such 
Gospels  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  world  of  the  apostolic 
age  in  commending  Jesus  to  all  men  as  the  Saviour  from 
sin.  It  is  hoped  that  the  view  presented  may  commend 
itself  to  the  Christian  reason,  as  not  only  simple  and 
satisfactory,  not  only  based  upon  the  sound  principles  of 
philosophy  and  the  undoubted  facts  of  history ;  but  as 
also,  and  more  than  all,  helpful  to  the  better  understand- 
ing of  these  precious  portions  of  the  Scriptures  and  of 
the  incarnate  Word  revealed  therein,  and  to  a  quickened 
progress  in  that  divine  life  of  faith  which  ever  contem- 
plates as  a  chief  aim  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  the 
crucified  and  risen  Christ. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  profitable  to  direct  the  atten- 
tion to  the  two  main  facts  of  the  Gospels,  —  the  first,  the 
element  common  to  all  the  four,  and  the  second,  the  ele- 
ment peculiar  to  each,  —  as  suited  and  doubtless  intended 
.to  give  the  productions  of  the  Evangelists  a  perpetual 
freshness  and  fitness  for  the  race  of  man. 


844  CONCLUSION. 

I.  The  Crospel  for  Man, 

There  is  a  central  mass  of  fact  and  truth  around  which 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John  alike  group  their  other 
material.  This  is  the  essential,  fundamental  element 
which  must  make  the  productions  of  the  Evangelists 
Gospels,  good  news,  to  man  the  sinner  wherever  and 
whenever  they  come  to  his  hearing.  These  chief  facts 
and  truths  may  be  summed  up  in  four  particulars. 

The  first  is  found  in  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of 
God.  The  four  Evangelists  set  it  forth  in  such  a  way  as 
to  make  it  patent  to  every  candid  reader.  With  Matthew, 
Jesus  is  Emmanuel,  God  with  us,  in  fulfillment  of  proph- 
ecy ;  with  Mark,  he  is  the  Son  of  God  in  human  form 
exercising  his  almighty  power;  with  Luke,  he  is  the  de- 
scendant of  Adam  and  the  child  of  the  virgin,  yet  the 
Son  of  the  Highest ;  with  John,  he  is  the  eternal  Word 
made  flesh. 

The  second  is  found  in  the  life  of  the  Son  of  God  on 
earth  in  human  form  and  subject  to  human  conditions 
and  laws.  This  makes  up  the  central  portion  of  each  of 
the  Gospels.  With  Matthew,  it  is  the  life  of  Messiah  ; 
with  Mark,  of  the  almighty  worker  and  victor ;  with 
Luke,  of  the  divine  and  universal  man ;  with  John,  of 
the  incarnate  Word. 

The  third  of  these  common  particulars  is  found  in  the 
death  upon  the  cross.  As  this  is  the  all-essential  fact, 
all  the  Gospels  devote  large  space  to  it,  delineating  also 
the  events  centring  in  it.  In  short,  here  is  the  ground 
wliich  all  the  Evangelists  traverse  most  fully  and  care- 
fully. They  all  give  the  triumphal  entry  into  the  Holy 
City,  which  was  the  public  claim  of  Jesus  to  be  the  Mes- 
siali,  the  Saviour  of  the  world;  the  Passover  supper, 
which  was  his  act  of  putting  himself  voluntarily  in  the 
place  of  the  Paschal  Lamb,  as  the  one  whose  sacrifice 


THE   GOSPEL   FOR  ALL   THE   WORLD.  345 

alone  could  deliver  from  the  destruction  of  sin  ;  the  ag- 
ony and  betrayal  in  Gethsemane,  which  marked  Ins  vol- 
untary submission  to  drink  the  cup  of  his  Father  for  the 
salvation  of  the  lost ;  the  trial  and  condemnation,  which 
were  at  once  the  public  vindication  of  the  innocence  of 
the  Redeemer,  and  his  public  rejection  by  the  ancient 
Jewish  and  Gentile  world ;  the  death  by  crucifixion, 
Avhich  was  his  actual  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world  ; 
and  his  burial,  which  signalized  his  subjection  to  death 
for  a  season.  All  these  are  the  constituent  parts  of  the 
great  fact  of  the  cross,  or  of  Christ's  sacrifice  for  the  sins 
of  mankind. 

The  fourth  and  last  of  these  common  features  is 
found  in  the  rising  of  Jesus  from  the  dead  on  the  third 
day,  in  his  subsequent  intercourse  with  his  disciples,  in 
his  giving  to  the  Apostles  their  great  commission  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  all  the  world,  and  in  his  ascension 
to  heaven,  at  once  establishing  his  claim  to  be  the  Sav- 
iour of  mankind  and  organizing  and  beginning  his  sav- 
ing work. 

All  these  —  the  incarnation,  the  life,  the  death,  the 
resurrection  —  are  the  essential  facts  and  truths  of  the 
Gospel,  those  which  at  the  first  made  it  good  news  to 
men.  Without  any  one  of  them  all  it  would  cease  to  be 
good  news  ;  for,  without  the  incarnation,  the  Son  of 
God  would  have  no  part  in  our  human  nature  ;  without 
the  life  on  earth,  he  could  neither  be  our  righteousness 
nor  our  example  ;  without  the  death  he  could  not  be  our 
sacrifice  for  sin  ;  and  without  the  resurrection  and  ascen- 
sion his  claims  would  be  proved  baseless  and  the  world 
would  be  left  to  perish  without  a  Saviour.  The  Son  of 
God  became  incarnate,  lived,  died,  rose  from  the  dead,  for 
the  redemption  of  the  lost,  —  this  cannot  grow  old  but 
must  be  glad  tidings  for  man,  the  sinner,  till  the  end  of 
time. 


346  CONCLUSION. 

II.  TJie  Gospel  for  all  Men. 

There  is  an  element  of  fact  and  truth  peculiar  to  each 
of  the  Evangelists.  It  was  by  means  of  this,  as  has  been 
seen,  that  the  essential  and  fundamental  Gospel  truth 
was  brought  by  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  favor- 
ably before  the  minds  of  the  Jew,  Roman,  Greek,  and 
Christian,  and  Jesus  of  Nazareth  commended  to  them  all 
as  the  Saviour  of  the  World.  It  is  this  fourfold  differ- 
ence that  completes  the  rounded,  perfect  fitness  of  the 
four  Gospels  to  constitute  the  perpetual  Evangel  for  the 
world  of  the  ages  subsequent  to  the  apostolic. 

Not  only  is  it  ever  true  that  man  is  a  sinner  and  needs 
the  good  news  of  Christ's  incarnation,  life,  death,  and 
resurrection ;  but  it  remains  equally  true  that  the  world 
of  mankind  is  always  divided  into  the  same  great  classes 
and  always  exhibits  the  same  generic  phases  of  thought. 
In  all  ages  the  Jewish,  Roman,  and  Greek  natures  re- 
appear among  men,  and,  in  fact,  make  up  the  world  of 
natural  men ;  while  the  Christian  nature  and  wants  like- 
wise remain  essentially  identical.  From  age  to  age  the 
four  Gospels  appeal  to  the  classes  who,  in  temperament, 
mental  constitution,  training,  and  modes  of  thought,  are 
like  those  for  whom  of  old,  in  obedience  to  the  inspiring 
breath  of  God,  they  were  prepared.  Thus  it  is  that 
these  brief  but  all-important  productions  have  had  power 
to  captivate  men  by  a  perpetual  fitness  and  a  perennial 
freshness. 

For  the  man  with  nature  inclined  to  bow  to  authority, 
to  appreciate  divine  religious  forms,  to  exalt  the  peculiar 
position  of  the  people  of  God,  and  to  trace  the  marvelous 
plan  of  God  in  the  preparation  for  the  Messiah  and  in 
the  progress  of  his  kingdom,  the  Gospel  which  Matthew 
wrote  for  the  Jew  must  possess  a  permanent  and  absorb- 
ing interest. 


THE   GOSPEL   FOR   ALL   TIIE   WORLD.  347 

For  the  man  of  power,  reverencing  law,  given  to  ac- 
tion, fitted  to  be  an  actor  or  leader  in  pushing  forward 
the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ,  the  Gospel  which 
Mark  wrote  for  the  Roman  must  retain  its  old  signifi- 
cance and  an  ever-potent  inspiration  as  the  battle-call  of 
the  Almighty  Conqueror. 

For  the  man  of  reason  and  taste,  of  philosophic  and 
aesthetic  culture,  the  man  longing  for  the  perfect  man- 
hood, cherishing  a  world-wide  sympathy  with  mankind, 
delighting  to  contemplate  the  universal  reach  of  the  grace 
of  God  the  Father  to  sinners,  the  Gospel  which  Luke 
wrote  for  the  Greek  must  maintain  an  increasing  reason- 
ableness and  an  undying  influence  as  the  voicing  of  the 
infinite  Reason  of  the  one  Divine  Man. 

For  the  man  of  faith  saved  by  the  incarnation  and 
atonement  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  man  of  the  new  and 
divine  life  of  obedience  and  devotion  to  Christ,  the  man 
enlightened,  guided,  and  helped  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
Gospel  which  John  wrote  for  the  Christian  Church  can- 
not fail  to  retain  an  immortal  fascination  and  to  furnish 
a  supreme  satisfaction  as  the  utterance  of  God's  eternal 
Word  to  the  believing  soul. 

It  is  on  this  wise  that  the  one  Gospel  of  God  in  four- 
fold form,  which  was  exactly  fitted  to  commend  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  to  the  ancient  world,  and  which  could  not  then 
have  been  put  in  other  shape  without  a  radical  change  in 
the  races  and  history  of  the  apostolic  age,  is  still  so  per- 
fectly adapted  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  modern  world, 
that  it  would  require  a  revolution  in  the  mental  structure 
and  experience  of  man,  before  any  other  number  of  Gos- 
pels or  any  different  ones  from  the  four  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament could  meet  the  necessities  of  ruined  and  redeemed 
humanity.  God  appears,  therefore,  in  his  Word  no  less 
than  in  his  world,  as  a  God  of  order.  The  same  perfect, 
divine  plan  which  science  is  finding  in  the  latter,  a  ra- 


348  CONCLUSION. 

tional  and  reverential  study  finds  in  the  former.  The 
Gospels  are  the  perfect  thought  of  God  for  the  restora- 
tion of  a  lost  world. 

The  four  Gospels,  therefore,  in  their  essential  unity 
and  harmony  and  in  their  fourfold  difference  and  con- 
trast, illustrate  at  once  and  equally  well  the  wonders  of 
the  divine  love  and  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  di- 
vine plan,  —  a  love  reaching  out  after  and  laying  hold 
of  all  the  great  classes  of  sinners  to  be  found  in  the 
race  ;  a  plan  comprehending  and  providing  for  the  spir- 
itual wants  of  all  men  to  the  end  of  time.  In  contem- 
plating, in  the  writings  of  the  Evangelists,  this  sublime 
plan  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  who  "  so  loved  the  world 
that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life,"  the  devout  soul  must  ever  bow  with  a  humble, 
grateful  adoration,  growing  with  increasing  knowledge, 
and  exclaim, — 

To  God  alone  he  all  the  glory. 


A  NEW  TEXT-BOOK  ON  MORAL  SCIENCE. 


PHRISTIAN  ETHICS;  ok,  the  tkue 

^  Moral  Manhood  and  Life  of  Duty.  A 
Text-book  for  Schools  and  Colleges.  By 
D.  S.  Gregory,  D.D.,  Professor  of  the 
Mental  Sciences  and  English  Literature 
in  the  University  of  Wooster,  Ohio. 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  WORK. 

Introduction — Nature  of  the  Science. 
Part  I. 

THEORETICAL  ETHICS— THEORY  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  DUTY. 

Division  I— The  Nature  of  the  Moral  Agent, 
Chapter  I — General  View  of  the  Personal  Agent. 

Section  1.  The  Active  Being. 

Section  2.  Tlie  Springs  of  Action. 

Section  3.  The  Arbiter  and  Executor  of  Action. 

Section  4.  The  Guides  of  Action. 

Chapter  II — Special  View  of  the  Moral  Agent. 

Section  1.  Elements  of  the  Moral  Nature  from  Theories  of  the  Moralists. 
Section  2.  Elements  of  the  Moral  Nature  from  Consciousness. 

Division  II— The  Nature  of  Virtue,  or  the  Dutiful  in  Conduct. 
Chapter  I — The  Supreme  End  of  Virtuous  Action. 

Section  1.  Theories  of  the  Supreme  End. 
Section  2.  The  True  Theory  Established. 

Chapter  II — The  Supreme  Rule  of  Kiqhtness. 

Section  1.  Unsatisfactory  Theories  of  the  Supreme  Rule. 
Section  2.  The  True  Theory  of  the  Supreme  Rule. 

Chapter    III — The   Ultimate   Ground   of   Rightness,    a   Moral 
Obligation. 

Section  1.  Incorrect  Theories  of  the  Ground  of  Moral  Obligation. 
Section  2.  Correct  Theory  of  the  Ground  of  Moral  Obligation. 

Division  III— The  Philosophy  of  the  Life  of  Duty. 
Chapter  I— The  True  Conception  of  Human  Duty. 

Section  1.  The  True  Idea  of  a  Virtuous  Action. 
Section  2,  The  True  Idea  of  the  Life  of  Duty. 

Chapter  II — The  Natural  Requisites  for  the  Life  of  Duty. 

Section  1.  The  Broad  Intelligence  and  the  Moral  Task. 
Section  2.  The  Cultivated  Conscience  and  the  Moral  Task, 
Section  3.  The  Free  and  Holy  Will  and  the  Moral  Task. 

Chapter  III — The  Requisite  Moral  Reconstruction. 

Section  1.  The  Moral  Disorder  of  Man's  Nature. 
Section  2.  The  True  Scheme  of  Moral  Reconstruction. 


Part  II. 

PRACTICAL  ETHICS.— DUTIES  IN  THE  LIFE  OF  DUTY. 

Division  I— Individual  Ethics— Duties  Toward  Self. 
Chapter  I — Duty  of  Self-Conservation. 

StXTioN  1.  Self- Preservation— Life. 
Section  2.  Self-Oare— Health. 
Section  3.  Self-Support— Weil-Being. 

Chapter  II — Duty  of  Self-Culture. 

Section  1.  Physical  Self-Culture. 
Section,  2.  Spiritual  Self-Culture. 

Chapter  III — Duty  of  Sklf-Conduct. 

Section  1.  Self-Co ntrol. 
Section  2.  Self-Direction. 

Division  II— Social  Ethics— Duties  Toward  Mankind. 
Chapter  I— General  Ethics.     Duties  Toward  Men  in  General. 

Section  1.  Duty  of  Social  Conservation. 
S^C:TioN.2.  Duty  of  Social  Improvement. 
Section  3.  Duty  of  Social  Direction. 

Chapter  II — Economical  Ethics.     Duties  in  the  Household, 

Section  1.  Duties  of  the  Marriage  Relation. 
Section  2.  Duties  of  the  Parental  Relation. 
Section  3.  Duties  of  Master  and  Servant. 

Chapter  III— Civil  Ethics.     Duties  in  the  State. 

Section  1.  Duties  of  the  State. 
Section  2.  Duties  of  the  Citizen. 

Division  III— Thoistic  Ethics— Duties  Toward  God. 
Chapter  I — Supreme  Devotion  of  the  Intellect  to  God. 

Section  1.  The  Binding  Force  of  the  Duty. 
Section  2.  The  Range  of  the  Duty. 

Chapter  II — Supreme  Devotion  of  the  Heart  to  God. 

SECTiok  1.  The  Binding  Force  of  the  Duty. 
Section  2.  The  Range  of  the  Duty. 

Chapter  III — Supreme  Devotion  of  the  Will  to  God. 

Section  1.  Obedience  Toward  God. 
Section  2.  Worship  of  God. 
:  Section  3.  Acceptance  of  Moral  Reconstruction. 


FEATUEES  OF  THE  WOEK. 


The  work  of  Dr.  Gregory  possesses  among  others  the  fol- 
lowing peculiar  features: 

1.  It  is  the  most  complete  and  comprehensive  treatise  on 
this  subject  that  has  been  brought  before  the  public,  con- 
taining almost  twice  the  matter  of  any  other  work  similar 
in  aim  and  form. 

2.  A  new,  logical  and  systematic  form  has  been  given  to 
the  whole  subject,  which  makes  the  science  at  once  easy  to 
master  and  to  retain. 

3.  It  is  so  constructed  as  to  meet  the  wants  of  three  classes 
of  pupils.  Practical  Ethics  furnishes  a  complete  text-book  for 
the  younger  and  more  immature,  as  in  the  Public  Schools; 
the  book  may  be  studied  entire  by  ordinary  Seminary  or 
College  classes;  or  the  matter  in  larger  type  may  be  made 
the  basis  of  a  system  of  lectures  for  those  who  desire  a  Syl- 
labus for  guiding  the  investigations  of  mature  minds. 

4.  By  means  of  graded  type,  the  relative  importance  and 
dependence  of  the  different  parts,  propositions  and  discussions, 
are  made  to  appear  at  once  to  the  eye  of  the  teacher  and  of 
the  pupil  of  average  intelligence. 

5.  The  entire  treatment  is  fresh  and  abreast  with  the  age, 
dealing  with  the  great  ethical  questions  in  living  rather  than 
dead  form  and  thereby  arousing  the  natural  enthusiasm  of 
the  youthful  mind. 

6.  The  work  aims  throughout  to  present  the  science  of  right 
and  noble  living  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  enlightened 
Christian  conscience,  so  as  to  keep  before  the  pupil  the  highest 
attainable  human  character  and  life,  and  the  most  powerful 
motives  for  attaining  them. 


The  attention  of  educators  is  particularly  invited  to  the 
following  points,  usually  either  overlooked  or  hastily  treated  : 

The  elements  of  personal  agency. 

The  thorough  analysis  of  the  moral  nature. 

The  full  discussion. of  the  nature  of  virtue.. 

The  scientific  presentation  in  the  philosophy  of  duty. 

The  full  treatment  of  the  great  questions  of  the  will. 

The  discussion  of  the  problem  of  moral  reconstruction,  and 
~the  testiiig  of  the  various  schemes  proposed. 

The  new  analysis  of  Practical  Ethics. 

The  principles  governing  tiie  choice  of  work  in  life. 
"     The  theory  of  education    and  its  application,  under  self- 
ciilture. 

The  treatment,  under  Self-Conduct,  of  the  great  End  of 
Life,  of  the  considerations  which  should  influence  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  plan  for  life,  and  of  the  principles  which  should 
govern  in  the  use  of  the  personal  powers,  the  forces  of  nature, 
wealth,  and  time,  in  carrj-ing  out  that  plan  and  accomplishing 
the  grandest  possible  life-work. 

The  enlarged  and  unselfish  view  of  duties  to  mankind. 

The  fresh  discussion  of  such  topics  as  the  duties  of  the 
State  to  the  world  and  to  God;  of  prayer;  of  the  Sabbath,  etc. 


WHAT  LEADING  EDUOATOES  SAY  OF  THE  WOEK. 


President  M.  B.  Anderson,  D.D.,  LL.  D.,  Rochester  University,  N.  Y. 

"The  book  throughout  shows  the  action  of  a  clear,  vigorous,  and  well- 
disciplined  mind,  strongly  imbued  "with  the  loftiest  conceptions  of  Chris- 
tian morality.  It,  is  admirably  fitted  for  a  text-book  and  is  exhaustive 
in  the  range  of  the  topics  treated." 


President  James  McCosh,  D.D.,  LL.  D.,  Princeton  College,  N.  J. 

"Dr.  Gregory's  work  is  one  of  the  very  best  of  the  few  good  books 
that  we  have  on  Christian  Ethics.  It  is  at  once  philosophic  and  practical 
expounding  grand  principles  and  applying  them  to  particular  precepts.' 


President  Noah  Porter,  D.D.,  LL.  D.,  Yale  College,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

"A  valuable  addition  to  the  manuals  of  instruction  which  we  have. 
It  certainly  does  great  credit  to  the  scholarship  and  ability  of  the  author." 


Professor  L.  H.  Atwater,  D.D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Logic,  Metaphysics  and  Political 
Economy,  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  Princeton.  (From  The  Presbyterian  Quarterly 
and  Princeton  Review.) 

"A  work  of  this  kind  is  to  be  estimated  according  to  two  principal 
standards:  first,  as  a  manual  for  teaching  the  science  of  which  it  treats, 
and,  next,  as  an  exposition  of  or  contribution  to  that  science  itself.  .  .  . 
Professor  Gregory's  book  very  strongly  exemplifies  both  sorts  of  excel- 
lencies. While  it  takes  note  of  the  views  of  others,  and  incorporates  the 
marrow  of  them,  it  combines  with  all  this  a  vein  of  original  thinking, 
which  brings  the  whole  out  as  it  has  been  fused  and  recast  in  the  alembic 
of  his  own  mind.  It  is  no  mere  combination  or  rehash.  It  is  a  con- 
struction of  his  own,  which,  illuminating  with  whatever  light  it  can  bor- 
row from  the  great  masters,  gives  many  cross  and  side  lights  of  its  own 
which  are  new.  While  it  has  value  so  far  as  an  original  work,  it  has 
still  greater  value  in  its  plan  and  method  as  a  text-book." 


President  Milton  Valentine,  D.D.,  Periiisylya,ma,  College,  (Lutheran  Quarterly  Review.) 

"  It  is  a  work  of  very  great  merit,  and  will  doubtless  soon  take,  as  it 
deserves,  a  prominent  place  among  the  manuals  of  instruction  in  academic 
and  collegiate  institutions.  •  .  .  The  work  on  the  whole  is  so  sound  and 
Christian,  as  well  as  so  clear  and  well  arranged,  that  we  regard  it  the 
very  best  manual  now  offered  for  instruction  in  Moral  Science." 


Dr.  H.  L.  Wayland,  Editor  of  the  National  Baptist  (late  President  of  Kalamazoo  College, 
and  son  of  Dr.  Francis  Wayland). 

"  The  book  is  based  upon  a  very  rigid,  logical,  and  comprehensive  out- 
line. .  .  .  The  author  takes  the  highest  possible  ideal  of  life  and  duty, 
and  he  discusses  his  theme  with  an  enthusiasm  and  directness  which  are 
sure  to  make  an  impression. 

"  The  book  evinces  great  breadth  of  scholarship,  and  a  familiarity  with 
all  the  recent  literature  upon  the  subject;  and  very  frequently  in  evolv- 
ing his  own  view,  he  will  place  side  by  side  the  views  of  those  who  differ 
from  him,  and  in  this  way  he  condenses  into  a  paragraph  the  contents  of 
many  volumes;  and  his  criticisms  bring  the  subject  down  to  the  present 
year  of  grace. 

"  But  the  cultus  of  the  book  does  not  surpass  its  outspokenness.  The 
author  sees  sin  where  sin  is  and  does  not  tamper  with  it.  The  warm, 
earnest,  practical,  dignified  spirit  of  the  volume  is  in  perfect  accord  with 
its  scientific  character. 

"The  spirit  of  the  book  corresponds  to  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher's  definition 
of  eloquence,  viz.:  '  Logic  set  on  fire.'  Dr.  Gregory  has  set  his  logic  on 
fire  with  his  pen.     We  doubt  if  his  voice  could  better  it," 


Col.  Robert  D.  Allen,  Superintendent  Kentncky  Military  Institute,  and  Member  of 
State  Board  of  Education. 

"I  am  persuaded  that  Gregory's  Christian  Ethics  is  the  only  work  on 
the  subject,  published  in  America,  that  is  adapted  to  the  class-room. 
Every  man  that  values  knowledge  on  this  subject  should  study  this 
splendid  work  with  care." 


Professor  J.  P.  Lacroix,  D.  D.,  Ohio,  Wesleyan  University,  translator  of  Wuttke'a 

Christian  Ethics. 

"This  book  presents  the  nero  ethics.  It  bears  the  science /rom  God. 
It  gives  a  clear,  positive.  Christian  solution  to  the  great  problems  of 
human  life. 


President  Thomas  Ward  White,  D.D.,  Greenboro  Female  College,  Alabama. 

"  I  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  it  superior  to  any  production  of  the 
kind  which  has  come  under  my  observation  for  years.  It  is  more  in 
accordance  with  Scripture  than  Paley,  more  lucid  than  Alexander,  much 
more  simple  than  Wayland,  freer  from  professional  technicalilies  than 
Abercrombie;  in  short,  &  post  helium  production  eminently  suited  for  the 
progressive  development  of  physical  and  moral  womanhood  in  the  South. 

"  We  shall  adopt  it,  at  once,  in  our  classes,  and  would  cordially  com- 
mend it  to  those  engaared  in  female  education." 


President  Thomas  Chase,  Haverford  College,  Pennsylvania. 

"  I  am  impressed  with  the  great  excellence  of  the  work.  It  is  philo- 
sophical in  its  arrangement,  sound  in  its  teachings,  and  happy  in  its 
practical  applications  of  the  great  truths  with  which  it  deals." 


President  C.  Nutt,  D.D.,  Indiana  State  University. 

"Such  a  book  has  been  long  needed.     It  is  thorough  and  up  with  the 
times.     I  shall  adopt  it  as  a  text-book  in  this  University." 


Professor  R.  Bethune  Welch,  LL.  D.,  Union  University,  N.  Y. 

"  It  seems  to  me  admirably  adapted  to  its  special  purpose  as  a  text- 
book ;  and,  in  this  respect,  cannot  fail  to  meet  an  urgent  need  in  the  de- 
partment of  ethical  instruction." 


President  Kendall  Brooks,  D.D.,  Kalamazoo  College,  Michigan. 

"  It  is  no  discredit  to  Francis  Wayland  to  say,  that  forty  years  after 
the  publication  of  his  Moral  Science,  which  has  rendered  admirable 
service  for  so  many  years,  another  is  issued  better  in  some  respects  than 
his.     Dr.  Gregory's  book  seems  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  class-room." 


President  N.  R.  Middleton,  College  of  Charleston,  S.  C. 

'*  It  is  a  very  complete  and  large-minded  analysis  of  a  subject  so  often 
discussed  in  a  narrow  and  sectarian  spirit." 


10 

President  Oval  Pirkey,  Abingdon  College,  111. 

"  It  is  the  best  text-book  I  have  j'et  found  on  the  subject  of  which  it 
treats.     Condensed,  systematic,  and  plain." 


President  B.  Heling,  D.D.,  Wittenberg  College,  Ohio. 

"  The  wide  range  of  topics  presented,  upon  what  he  so  fitly  terms  '  the 
science  of  right  and  noble  living,'  makes  the  book  a  real  treasury  of 
truth  and  knowledge  upon  its  special  subject." 


President  John  R.  Park,  M.D.,  University  of  Deseret,,  Utah. 

"In  general  plan,  in  arrangement,  and  in  all  that  makes  a  text-book 
effective  in  the  class-room,  I  have  yet  seen  nothing  equal  to  it." 


President  R.  L.  Abernethy,  Rutherford  College,  N.  C. 

"  1  am  so  well  pleased  with  it  that  I  shall  adopt  it  as  one  of  my  text- 
books in  this  college,  next  term.  The  book  combines  more  of  mental 
with  the  normal  of  man's  nature  than  any  other  book  I  have  examined. 
Its  typography  and  manual  execution  cannot  be  easily  surpassed." 


Professor  J.  W.  Scott,  D.D.,  L.L.D.,  West  Virginia  University. 

"  It  seems  well  adapted  to  the  purpose  intended.     As  a  text-book,  better 
than  any  of  those  in  common  use." 


President  L.  A.  Dunn,  Central  University,  Iowa. 
"  Decidedly  the  best  of  anything  I  have  seen  upon  this  subject. 


Professor  James  Harper,  D.D.,  United  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary, 
Newburg,  N.  Y. 

"  I  should  be  glad  to  know  that  the  work  had  been  adopted  as  a  text- 
book in  all  our  colleges,  and  outside  of  college  walls.  It  is  admirably 
adapted  to  promote  a  high  moral  tone;  while  it  furnishes  powerful  evi- 
dence in  behalf  of  that  Christianity  toward  which,  by  thoughtful  steps 
from  first  principles,  it  conducts  the  student." 


11 

Professor  "Wm.  Alexander,  D.D.,  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Pacific,  Cal. 

"  The  definitions  are  admirable,  clear  cut  and  distinct,  and  at  the  same 
time  comprehensive  and  complete.  Another  notable  feature  is,  that  the 
author  has  ventured  to  depart  from  the  beaten  track  without  departing 
from  the  truth.  I  am  delighted  with  the  boldness  and  directness  with 
which  he  pushes  his  principles  to  their  just  conclusion." 


Professor  C.  S.  Reinke,  Moravian  Theological  Seminary,  Bethlehem,  Pa. 
I  think  it  an  admirable  work." 


Professor  T.  S.  Wynkooss,  Theological  Seminary,  Allahabad,  India. 

"  Tell  Dr.  Gregory  that  I  take  with  me  to  India  a  package  of  his 
Christian  Ethics,  and  shall  select  the  best  of  my  young  men  and  put  them 
through  as  thorough  a  course  in  it  as  possible." 


Principal  John  W.  Armstrong,  State  Normal  School,  Fredonia,  N.  Y. 

"  The  book  is  uncommonly  rich  in  material.  The  general  impression 
made  by  it  is,  variety  and  excellence  in  matter,  thoroughness  in  investi- 
gation, and  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  the  recitation  room." 


Principal  J.  Estabrook,  State  Normal  School,  Ypsilanti,  Michigan. 

"  I  am  delighted  with  it.     The  arrangement  of  topics  is  admirable,  and 
the  discussion  of  them  very  able." 


President  C.  E.  Pomergy,  D.D.,  State  Normal  School,  Emporia,  Kansas. 

•'  The  classification  and  arrangement  under  General  Divisions,  Chapters, 
Sections,  and  Topics,  are  valuable  helps  to  both  teacher  and  scholar. 
Add  to  this  the  aid  afforded  by  the  type,  and  we  have  little  left  to  desire 
in  form  for  a  model  text-book.  As  to  the  discussion  of  the  subject  matter. 
Part  2d,  upon  Practical  Ethics,  is  especially  valuable.  Its  careful  study 
cannot  fail  to  ennoble  character,  and  give  a  truer  conception  of  the  truth 
and  value  of  the  Christian  religion. 


12 

President  J.  H.  Brunner,  Hiwassee  College,  Tennessee. 

"On  receipt  of  Gregory's  Christian  Ethics,  I  laid  the  book  aside  as 
being  no  better  than  what  we  already  had  in  use  ;  but  subsequent  events 
led  me  to  a  thorough  review  of  the  book.  In  no  other  work  have  I  found 
so  many  points  of  excellence.     .     .     . 

"  We  make  it  a  rule  to  use  none  but  the  best  books  we  can  find,  in  the 
several  departments  of  instruction.  This  rule  will  require  us  to  place  the 
Christian  Ethics  in  our  course  of  study  for  the  next  year. 

"  I  am  at  loss  for  language  suitably  to  express  my  high  appreciation  of 
the  work,  both  as  to  its  intrinsic  matter  and  its  typographical  excellence 
as  a  text-book." 

ritICE,$1.50. 


Liberal  terms  to  Teachers  and  School  Officers  desiring  copies  for  examma- 
iioii  or  first  introduction. 

Please  Address  the  Publishers, 

Eldredge  &  Brother, 

17  NORTH  SEVENTH  STREET, 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA, 


BS2555.4.G82C.2 

Why  four  Gospels?  :  or,  The  Gospel  for 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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